What does whole product success look like to you?

In my last post, I explored the relationship been product bundling and whole products. Before we look at key factors in decision-making in whole product bundling, we need to be clear on what product success looks like.

Companies define successful products in a number of different ways. The characteristics of a successful product often have to do with corporate goals. In addition, product marketers may be goaled and measured on specific success factors.

Each view of product success influences the decisions we make in whole product bundling. So, let's look at some ways product success is measured.

1. Financial Bottom Line

Examples of purely financial measurements include product revenues or product profits. When taking a financial view of success, details about what the product is and how that product has achieved the numbers are often lost. Myriads of underlying problems can hide in these details only to surface in financials quarters or years in the future.

Financials are important. In the bundling process, they help you gauge what you can afford and what you can't.

2. Unit Sales Figures

Examples of sales figures include total units sold or net units sold (total minus returns). Unit sales focus on the question of "how many". We can capture quantity purchases and sales returns. Unit sales give us good indications of how our marketing mix is working and how our product is received.

Unit sales tell us how well the product is doing. Declines in unit sales can indicate competitive pressures. Returns can indicate customer issues - concerns that can be corrected with whole product bundles.

3. Buyer/User Behaviors

Examples of buyer behaviors include product purchases (including related purchases of accessories), product repurchases, warranty registration and use, and product returns. From the evaluation of buyer/user behaviors, we truly understand how a product is received, used, and valued.

Buyer/User behaviors provide essential insights into requirements for whole product bundling. By capturing buyer/user behaviors in data, a marketer can understand whether a product is being used or is simply shelfware.

Most marketing environments tend to favor one of these measures of success over the others. Let's take a quick look at the implications for whole product bundling each poses.

• In financially focused success, decisions will be made to drive revenues and/or profits.

Profit-oriented success will often involve the trimming of costs to get the most out of each unit sold. Bundling decisions will revolve around cost reduction. Revenue-oriented success forces a sell-more approach. Bundling decisions will revolve around the ability to get more money out of each sale. Rarely will financial-based bundling decisions result in whole product bundles. These decisions tend to be corporate-focused rather than customer-focused.

• In unit sales-focused success, decisions will be made to increase the number of units sold and minimize the number of returns.

Prices may be cut to stimulate new purchases. Return policies could be restricted to minimize the number of units returned. Bundling decisions may partner a highly successful product with a laggart to increase unit sales of the less successful product. Whole product bundling, by serving as an effective differentiator in the marketplace, can be used to increase unit sales while declining the number of returns.

• In buyer/user-focused success, decisions will be made to increase buyer/user satisfaction with the product.

Increased buyer/user satisfaction can be a critical factor in building success across a brand. In this case, success is not valued by a single product but by the entire brand or product line. Bundling decisions focus on maximizing satisfaction while remaining competitive. Individual product profits can be sacrificed for the value of future purchases (total customer value).

In summary, it is important to understand the corporate vision of product success before making whole product decisions.

Product lines, brands, or subscription-based offerings that benefit from repeat purchases, can achieve the greatest benefit from whole product bundling.