One way product line extensions can be a market strategy for ecommerce is by creating product variations. This includes product additions, product replacements and product substitutions. One reason to use product line extensions in ecommerce is that they offer a new product while also retaining the original products’ customers. Product variants give shoppers more options without having to search elsewhere for what they want.
The goal of product line extension? To keep you excited and interested in the brand so you’ll keep buying the product.
Brands both large and small use product line extensions to reach a greater audience and increase revenue.
This guide will walk you through examples and tips on creating a product extension strategy for your e-commerce store, so you too can extend your brand’s product line.
What is product line extension?
Product line extension is the act of creating new product additions, product replacements, product substitutions, etc. to gain more attention for a product line. Product line extensions are strongly related to marketing strategies because they are used to gain more loyal customers who wish to continue buying the product being offered. They are also commonly used in e-commerce stores when there are insufficient product options.
Product line extension is important when marketing a product because it provides an opportunity to branch out into other areas where there may not have been any room before.
What are the advantages of product line extensions?
A company’s marketing plan includes product line extension. It’s a low-risk technique to satisfy various consumer segments and serves as a competitive weapon for increasing a brand’s market share.
Your customer needs more options
The fundamental benefit of line extensions is that they provide consumers with more options. In economic terms – Unlimited Wants, refer that we will never get enough, same as your customer, they always want to have more than one option.
Customers today expect to have a variety of alternatives accessible to them while purchasing.”The Paradox of Choice,” Consumers often experience anxiety as a result of their options, according to Schwartz.
The book analyzes the actions of various sorts of people (particularly maximizers and completors) confronted with a plethora of alternatives. This book demonstrates how the dramatic increase in selection—from the minor to the profound problems of balancing job, family, and individual needs.
Line extensions can be beneficial for a brand, but you don’t want to offer too many options. Make sure the extensions you plan to create are based on audience research and trend and align with what people want.
Enhances consumer perceptions of your brand
Extensions are considered to be a low-risk option when compared with entering a new product category.
Instead of creating a new product, product line extension leverage the brand perception from the existing product line to your new product line.
The risk is relatively lower to build something completely new for your existing customer group.
If you already have a successful brand, so any associated goods you release will undoubtedly be well received by customer groups.
Customers may already know your company, but they’re waiting for the ideal items to come their way.
How to deploy a Product line extension strategy in the e-commerce landscape?
Adding Variants
The product line extension strategy can be deployed if the product has a variety of product variants for customers to choose from, so the product range is not limited only to one product.
Providing product variants also reduces risk because it’s easy to replace product variants instead of deleting an entire product.
This is especially profitable with inventory management. When you deploy a product line extension strategy, you should always keep in mind that product variants should always fit into the theme or category of your current product.
Adding Related products
When you are shopping on Amazon.com, there will be a “frequently bought together” option, which means that the product is often bought in conjunction with your product.
This is an excellent way to product line extensions because you can find popular combinations of items that customers may want to purchase together.
To increase the cart value of your e-commerce site, you will need to suggest the product in a bundle for your customer to consider the product package, just like your buyer intends to buy a mouse and then you will suggest a mouse pad package with a discount to encourage them to take the action.
To test with a different product type but same customer group
Some of the products are easier to deploy the product line extension, just like T-shirts, you can simply extend the product line by colors or variant just like polo shirt to a hoodie since the customer group is very similar.
You are giving a new option to your existing customer group, instead of creating or exploring the new customer group.
Conclusion
Product line extensions are a great marketing strategy to help you reach your customers and provide them with more product options.
Line Extensions can be beneficial for a brand, but it’s important to consider the risk factors when implementing this sales tactic in your e-commerce store.
When launching product variants or related items on Amazon, keep in mind that these additions should always align with the theme of your current product offerings.
If you’re interested in learning about how product line extensions work and if they might be right for you, try it today !
