New Products Development

Answer the following questions, related to the concepts of new product development.

1.Through the stages of the Product Lifecycle, companies adapt their marketing mix.Based on the information in the case, identify which stage of the product lifecycle currently describes the trolley market and which element of the marketing mix Clares MHE appears to be adapting to sustain/improve their position in the market. Provide information from the case to support your response. (2)

2.In the course, we have discussed the growth strategies that comprise the Product-Market Expansion Grid.Identify and explain which three strategies from the grid are currently being considered by Clares MHE to stimulate company growth, providing specific examples presented in the case.(2)

3.The case references new developments in the trolley market, integrating checkout technology to have customer credit cards automatically charged for products in their cart as they exit the store.Applying your own ideas and understanding of the course concepts, propose steps that Clares MHE could take in each of the six stages of the new product development process to help bring these technology-enabled trolleys to market. (4)

4.Using the appropriate format covered in the course, write a positioning statement that Clares MHE could use for the new technology-enabled trolleys. (2)

This is the case study for my question:

Trolley's up for Clares MHE Case Clares Merchandise Handling Equipment Ltd. (Clares MHE) was one of those many companies that most people have never heard of despite the fact that at one stage it was the largest supplier of wire trolleys, dollies and baskets to the UK retail trade. Though you might not recognize the name, you would have seen its customer trolleys if you shopped in any of the big UK stores (including Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer, Boots, Halfords and Homebase). You would probably also have seen its roll cages used in stores to carry stock for replenishment. As well as the UK market, Clares sold trolleys to the French retail giant Carrefour. And if you travelled through any of the big airports in the UK (Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted) you would also have seen the range of airport trolleys that the company designed and built. Part of the wider Clares Retail Services Ltd., whose retail interests extended beyond trolleys into retail shelving and displays, cash desks and checkouts, kiosks and even consulting rooms within pharmacies, Clares MHE specialized in the technology for moving merchandise around. And that meant making over 250,000 trolleys a year. Trolleys may seem quite simple but they are important in the retail experience; try carrying more than six items in your arms and you see the need. The facilitating role can be particularly acute at an airport; after the car park the trolley may be the first real contact that a traveller has with the airport and it is certainly what brings them from the outside world right into the heart of the airport experience. The facilitating role at its most functional, of course, is embodied in those workhorses of retail replenishment, the roll cage. The alternative to transporting upwards of half a tonne of merchandise is many trips to and from the stock room - not a recipe for retail efficiency. The Clares range of products served several different segment needs: shopping trolleys with different sizes, shapes, capacities, castors, child seating configurations and stacking space requirements; garden and DIY trolleys, with different shapes, basket or tray configurations and load capacities; shopping baskets with different materials, sizes, weights and capacities; roll cages with different finishes, chassis bases, numbers of sides and stacking space requirements; airport luggage trolleys with different sizes, shapes, weights, stacking space requirements and customer purposes. SAGE Ross Brennan, Louise Canning and Raymond McDowell 2014 SAGE Business Cases Trolley's up for Clares MHE Page 2 of 2 A perennial issue for Clares was where to take its merchandise handling technology next. When you're selling to all the big names in retail, where do you go if you are interested in growing the business further - particularly if the technology itself is well established? Of course, it is always possible to look for additional markets - for example, secure material handling for governmental organizations, or residential uses such as recycling. It is also possible to do more for existing customers, including offering a full 'cradle-to-the-grave' solution for all trolley needs, with a full servicing package, and even by bundling the complete offering differently (such as selling use by the hour or leasing bythe day). The demands of the customers affect the offerings that need to be provided. Increasingly, airports are adopting a systems approach to purchasing trolleys - just selling trolleys to them is not enough. As a consequence, trolley companies need to ensure they have the supply partners and alliances with the right systems technology firms to create a total offering that satisfies their airport customers' requirements completely. While this is a mature technology it is possible to find additional innovations to the existing technology itself that will meet the needs of business-to-business customers, delivering even greater value from trolleys, as well as providing a functionality that continues to meet the needs of end-customers. There are specific areas where there is particular scope for innovation. Greater security possibilities exist with castor technology, as does the potential for better matching to the physical demands of locations. Anti-bacterial applications have further potential as well. One major driver for innovation is advertising, and combined with the converging potential through airwave and display technology, the possibilities for income from renting advertising space are becoming very attractive to retailers - the equivalent of the Formula 1 trolley! As far as roll cages are concerned, the design has changed little in 30 years. Often companies will also buy exactly the same trolley for all logistics needs. However, a company like Tesco has five different types of store, each with slightly different needs for the product. Recognizing the different segment needs and meeting the more diverse needs more precisely also presents opportunities. Developments to integrate the checkout and trolley are fully underway in pilot stores around the globe. Using intelligent shelving and trolleys, the idea is to eliminate the need for checkouts and queuing completely. As you take the product from the shelf into the trolley it self-scans and upon exit automatically charges the goods to your credit card. The potential for all these adaptations raises the question of the limit to standardization and the extent to which it is sensible to do different things for special customers. Establishing those customers that warrant special attention could become the cornerstone of offering management for Clares. Of course, the payback for such investment may not necessarily be cash right now. Rather, some customers may be sources of adaptations to offerings that could ultimately lead to changes in the technology that spawn a whole new generation of market-leading offerings.