What is product-market fit?

Although the term might seem simple, product-market fit goes beyond the idea of your products simply fitting in your brand's target market well. It's a culmination of diverse and possibly long-term efforts focused on delivering exactly what your customer base wants and needs. In short, you've chosen great products that people want to buy in quantities sufficient to maintain an upward success trajectory. Everyone's satisfied.

It sounds like a simple, general goal of any retail business. But in reality, achieving product-market fit requires a strong, multi-faceted strategy to achieve a strong product-market fit. Let’s look deeper into what it means, and then uncover how your brand can make it happen.

A deeper look into product-market fit

This isn't just about making sure your products sell. Every potential customer looks at your brand for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they want a new shirt from an up-and-coming designer, and you happen to have it in stock. More likely, they want a brand whose sales team understands them on a more personal level. This leads to customer loyalty and brand advocacy, which are true tests for product-market fit.

Some signs that you haven't mastered product-market fit

A high rate of sales, although a huge goal in retail, is not the primary indication of good product-market fit. Therefore, slow sales are not necessarily an indication of a problem. In some niches, there simply aren't huge numbers of buyers for a particular product type. More telling issues develop over time and point to disappointment with the products themselves, dissatisfaction with customer care, and a general lack of connection to the brand.

• High rates of product returns
• Cart abandonment in ecommerce
• Low repeat sales figures
• No social proof chatter on popular platforms
• Excess complaints or poor customer feedback
• Lack of meaningful interaction with marketing

High levels of repeat purchases and more positive interactions across all communication channels show more than simple customer satisfaction. Ultimately, achieving this cements your brand's position in the luxury sector and leads it toward its position as a status symbol.

The importance of product-market fit for luxury retailers

Unlike mass-market items or specialty products like custom software in the B2B sector, luxury goods have a unique type of competition. Trends matter as much as tradition. However, the customer journey outpaces almost everything on the way to brand success. People frequently choose their favorite retailer based on how the company itself caters to their desires.

• Brand loyalty ensures that your customers come back again and again and tell others about your product ideas and service.
• Profit margins increase, and you have more resources to expand or perfect your brand.
• Product positioning improves in busy markets and allows you to differentiate yourself from new brands and other established ones.
• Achieving product-market fit helps you support sustainable growth with less waste.

Once you achieve product-market fit and learn how to maintain it, your brand will become largely immune from niche fluctuations and impervious to minor complaints. That doesn't mean eternal success is assured. It puts your company in the best position possible to satisfy high-value customers naturally.

The right business model and steps to achieve this goal

It doesn't matter if you have a brick-and-mortar boutique or a large ecommerce shop, or if you sell high-end leather bags or diamond rings. The way you organize and run your business needs to follow the most effective steps to achieve product-market fit. 

Of course, things will look quite different from one brand to another. The ideas behind building trusted relationships with people willing and eager to buy your products stay the same.

1 – Identify your target customers

Craft the ideal customer profile for the types of products you sell. This will include demographic information (age, gender, income level, employment status, etc.) as well as psychographic details. The buyer personas must look at shopping habits, values, and interests as much as how much the customers can afford to pay for a new suit or timepiece.

2 – What is your value proposition?

What do your products offer that members of your target audience cannot find elsewhere? You need more than a viable product. You need one that elicits excitement and a 'must have it' enthusiasm. This helps determine your value proposition. Perhaps you offer better quality, hand-crafted items, more affordable pricing, or exclusive extras. This doesn't have to focus directly on the products either. Making the shopping experience different and better helps, such as hosting customer events for the most loyal brand fans.

3 – Choose products that match or exceed expectations

Make sure the vast majority of your products exceed customer wants and needs. You will not win with every one, and you cannot rely on a few hot sellers to carry your shop. Keep track of the products that get the most buzz and sales. Choose new ones with matching criteria in mind.

4 – Get the items in front of your target audience

Obviously, marketing effectively plays a huge role in brand growth and long-term success. The more you can promote the type of loyalty involved with true product-market fit, the simpler it is to identify what works. Track the platforms where fans gush about their newest purchase. Analyze the content of the email or SMS messages that got the highest response. Use a quality customer relationship management platform to collect every bit of data possible and strategize based on its pattern identification and smart analysis.

5 – Constantly evaluate product-market position

Nothing works forever. If you want to enjoy the continuous growth and success required to keep your brand active for years to come, you need to check your KPIs and get feedback all the time. Talking directly to your target consumers and satisfied customers makes the most sense. Not only do you get the best information, the practice also gives them the care and attention they want from a luxury company they buy products from.

Testing, measuring, and achieving product-marketing fit becomes much easier when you have powerful tech on your side. Clientbook allows you to analyze and leverage data in ways that guide you down the best paths toward success.