Product life cycle, what is product life cycle

Please refer to the MBA Think Tank Encyclopedia (for more details).

A typical product life cycle can be divided into four phases, namely the introduction (or introduction), growth, maturity and decline.

1) Phase 1: Introduction (Introduction) Period.

It refers to the product from design and production to market and testing stage. When a new product is put on the market, it enters the introduction period. At this time, the product variety is small, the customer does not know the product, except for a few customers who pursue novelty, almost no one actually buys the product.

In order to expand sales, producers have to invest a lot of money to promote their products. At this stage, due to the limitations of production technology, the production batch of products is small, the manufacturing cost is high, the advertising cost is large, the product sales are high, and the sales volume is extremely limited.

2) The second stage: the growth stage.

When the product enters the introduction period and the sales are successful, it enters the growth period. The growth period refers to the fact that the product has achieved good results through test marketing, the buyers gradually accept the product, and the product has gained a foothold in the market and opened up sales. This is the phase of demand growth, with demand and sales rising rapidly.

Production costs have dropped sharply, and profits have grown rapidly. At the same time, competitors see that it is profitable and will enter the market to participate in the competition, so that the supply of similar products increases, and then declines, and the growth rate of corporate profits gradually slows down, and finally reaches the highest point of life cycle profits.

3) The third stage: maturity stage.

It refers to the product into mass production and stable market sales, after the growth period, with the increase in the number of people who buy the product, the market demand tends to be saturated. At this time, the products were popularized and standardized, and the cost was low and the output was large. Sales growth rate is slow until it turns down, due to the intensification of competition, resulting in similar product manufacturers have to increase investment in product quality, color, specifications, packaging services, etc., to a certain extent, increasing costs.

4) The fourth stage: the recession period.

It means that the product has entered the elimination stage. With the development of science and technology and changes in consumption habits and other reasons, product sales and profits continue to decline, products in the market has been aging, can not meet the market demand, there are other better performance, lower new products on the market, enough to meet the needs of consumers. At this time, the higher-cost enterprises will stop production one after another due to unprofitable profits, and the life cycle of such products will gradually end, and finally withdraw from the market completely.

Product Life Cycle (product

Lifecycle), abbreviated as PLC. It refers to the market life of the product, that is, the whole process of a new product from the beginning of entering the market to being eliminated by the market, which is divided into four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

After a product enters the market, its sales volume and profit will change over time, showing a process from less to more from more to less, just like human life, from birth, growth to maturity, and finally to decline, which is the life cycle phenomenon of products. The so-called product life cycle refers to the process of market life cycle that a product undergoes from entering the market to finally exiting the market. Only after research and development, test marketing, and then entering the market, the market life cycle of the product can be regarded as the beginning.

When a product is withdrawn from the market, it marks the end of its life cycle.

Brewing stage, production stage, marketing stage, brand stage, breakthrough stage (gestation stage).

The product life cycle is the service life of a product, the time it takes for a product to disappear from birth. The life cycle of a product is closely related to the performance of its own products, market demand, market environment, national policies, etc., most of which can be: introduction period, growth period, maturity period, and decline period.

Next, let's take a closer look at the four life cycles of a product.

Introduction period: refers to the product from design and production to the market to enter the testing stage.

Growth period: When the product enters the introduction period and the sales are successful, it enters the growth period.

Maturity period: refers to the product into mass production and stable into the market, after the growth period, with the increase in the number of people who buy the product, the market demand tends to be saturated.

Recession period: refers to the product entering the elimination stage.

Characteristics of the product life cycle:

At different stages of the product life cycle, there are different characteristics in terms of sales volume, profits, buyers, market competition, etc.

Introductory period Growth period.

Maturity Decline.

Pre-Late Stage.

Sales volume is low.

Rapid growth continues to grow.

There is a downward trend.

Decline in profits.

Tiny or minus-large.

The peak gradually decreases.

Low or negative buyers.

Lovers of novelty.

More Volkswagen.

Volkswagen followers.

There is little competition.

Rise increases.

Much less.

The product life cycle, also known as the "product life cycle". It refers to the whole movement process of the product from the beginning of preparing to enter the market to being eliminated and withdrawn from the market, which is determined by the production cycle of demand and technology.

It is the economic life of a product or commodity in the market movement, that is, in the process of market circulation, due to the change in consumer demand and other factors affecting the market, the cycle of commodity from prosperity to decline.

Brief introduction. The concept of product life cycle, abbreviated as PLC, compares the sales history of a product to the life cycle of a person, going through the stages of birth, growth, maturity, aging, and death. As far as the product is concerned, it is to go through a stage of development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

1) Product development period.

From the idea of developing a product to the period of successful product manufacturing. During this period, the sales of this product were zero, and the company's investment continued to increase.

2) Introduction period.

New products are newly launched and sales are slow. Due to the high cost of introducing products, profits are usually low or negative at the beginning, but there are no or very few competitors at this time.

3) Growth period.

1. Phased division.

1. The introduction period refers to the stage when new products are launched in the market and product sales are growing slowly.

2. The growth period refers to the stage when the product is quickly accepted by customers in the market and the sales volume rises rapidly.

3. Maturity period refers to the stage when most buyers have accepted the product and market sales are slowly growing or declining.

4. The recession period refers to the stage when sales decline sharply and profits gradually tend to zero.

2. General product life cycle characteristics:

1. The product introduction period is short, so the company's new product development cost is low.

2. The growth period is short, the sales and profits of new products grow rapidly, and soon enter the peak, which means that the maximum income can be obtained at the beginning of the product life.

3. The maturity period lasts for a long time, which essentially prolongs the company's profit time and profit quantity, which is extremely beneficial to the enterprise.

4. The recession period is very slow, it means that sales and profits decline slowly, rather than suddenly.

3. Marketing strategies for each stage of the product life cycle.

1. Introduction period: fast plunder strategy, slow plunder strategy, and fast penetration strategy.

2. Growth period: according to user needs and other market information, continuously improve product quality, strive to develop new models of products, and increase new uses of products; Strengthen the first-class link and establish a strong product image; Re-evaluate channel decisions, consolidate original channels, add new sales channels, and open up new markets; Choose the right time to adjust** to win more customers.

3. Maturity period: market improvement strategy, product improvement strategy, marketing mix improvement.

4. Recession period: concentration strategy, that is, to concentrate resources on the most favorable market segments, the most effective sales channels, and the most easy-to-sell varieties and styles; Sustain strategy, i.e., maintain the original market segment and marketing mix strategy to maintain sales at a low level; Extraction strategy, i.e., a significant reduction in selling expenses.

Product Chain 1:

All products can be divided into three links: demand, production and sales; They correspond to product design, project management, and product operation;

In the whole life cycle of the product, it will go through these three links, constantly iterating, and constantly repeating these three links;

Product chain 2: product launch link: concept stage, design stage, implementation stage, operation stage;

Concept stage: product requirements (user groups, scenarios, user needs), solution formulation (core business processes);

Design stage: product function process, product structure and page process, product function and content specific presentation;

Implementation stage: product development, testing, bug fixing;

Operation stage: product promotion, user feedback on the product;

Product Life Cycle:

The process of a product from the generation of the concept to the final product withdrawal from the market. It will go through the process of start-up, growth, maturity, and decline.

Product Life Cycle:

Start-up period (product validation period).

In the initial stage of the product, the product manager mainly polishes the basic requirements of the product, that is, the core requirements of the product. The goal of this stage is to improve the core functions, optimize the user experience of the product, and gradually cultivate a group of seed users;

Growth period (product iteration period).

Through the polishing of the product in the start-up stage, the product has been initially matured, and the product experience and core functions of the product have been optimized and improved in stages. At this time, the focus of product work falls on operations, during which large-scale marketing is required, attracting a large amount of traffic, obtaining as much user feedback as possible, and constantly iterating the product to make a basis for product expansion, so as to expand the user base.

Maturity (product transition period).

After the iteration of the growth period, the complexity and volume of the product reach a certain limit, and the number of users also reaches the maximum limit, and tends to stabilize, at this time, users generally reach a stage of dependence on the product, the best period to achieve commercialization, convert users into revenue, and may sacrifice the product experience of some users. The core is to maintain user relationships and achieve revenue; At this stage, it is also necessary to start preparing for the transformation of the product, that is, continuous experimentation through MVP;

Recession period. At this stage, due to the rise of emerging similar products, in technology or other aspects, the cost of meeting the same needs of users is gradually reduced or the benefits under the same cost are getting higher and higher, resulting in the loss of users, and the gradual use of new products, this stage is the last period of transformation, when the advantages of emerging products continue to be strong, and the value brought is significantly greater than the replacement cost of the product, the product will be announced to end;

Demand pain points, frequency, and user scale.

The three stages of the product: it can be with or without (electric shaver, electric toothbrush) I need you (razor, toothbrush) and inseparable (need and monopoly).

1.Exploratory period 2Growth period 3Maturity 4Recession period.

That is, the product start-up stage, the business-oriented stage, and the product direction is verified with the minimum cost. The product appeal at this stage: to survive.

Features: fewer users, fewer competing products, and a single product variety.

First, the instability and barriers to entry into the industry are low.

At this stage, the MVP concept should be pursued, and too much energy should not be put into polishing the details of the product.

1What should I pay attention to during the exploration period?

1）.Whether the product is needed by users (whether the core functions solve user needs).

2）.MVP: Verify product direction at the lowest cost.

How to survive during the exploration period?

1）.It is necessary to understand what kind of people the product is for, because innovative products cannot serve all users well, and mainstream users will only use the product based on a common need.

2）.Understand the current detailed situation of potential people, the pain points they encounter, what kind of demands they have, and what kind of solutions we can provide them to meet the needs of users.

The user assumption section is divided into three basic steps: hypothetical user, product hypothesis, and value evaluation.

1) Hypothetical users: After selecting some target groups and determining the target users, you need to distinguish user roles, explore the pain points of different roles, and then find the entry point to solve the problem.

2) Product hypothesis: By deeply feeling the user's situation in the use scenario, the user's pain points and demands are deduced and summarized, and targeted solutions are given, and the product hypothesis is gradually derived.

The product life cycle refers to the whole process that a product goes through from being put on the market to being replaced and withdrawn from the market. The product life cycle is directly related to the formulation of product strategy and marketing strategy by enterprises, which is mainly determined by the changes in consumers' consumption patterns, consumption levels, consumption structures and consumption psychology. The product life cycle defined by marketing is as follows:

Introduction, growth, maturity, decline.

A typical product life cycle can be divided into four phases, namely entry, growth, saturation and decline.

1. Entry period. When a new product is launched into the market, it will enter the investment period. At this time, the customer does not know about the product, and only a few customers who are looking for novelty may buy it, and the sales volume is very low.

In order to expand the market, a large amount of ** expenses are required to promote the product. At this stage, due to technical reasons, the product cannot be produced in large quantities, so the cost is high, the sales growth is slow, and the enterprise not only does not get profits, but may lose money. The lack of products also needs to be further improved.

2. Growth period. At this time, customers are already familiar with the product, a large number of new customers begin to buy, and the market gradually expands. The products are mass-produced, the production cost is relatively reduced, the company's sales are rising rapidly, and the profits are also growing rapidly.

Competitors see that it is profitable, and will enter the market to participate in the competition, so that the supply of similar products increases, and then declines, and the growth rate of corporate profits gradually slows down, and finally reaches the highest point of life cycle profits.

3. Saturation period. The market demand tends to be saturated, the potential customers are few, and the sales growth is slow until it turns down, marking the maturity of the product. At this stage, competition gradually intensifies, product prices decrease, expenses increase, and corporate profits decline.

4. Recession period. With the development of science and technology, the emergence of new products or new substitutes will change the consumption habits of customers and turn to other products, so that the sales and profits of the original products will decline rapidly. As a result, the product entered a period of recession again.