Overview
Lakanto is a healthy eating company with a wide selection of food and beverage products. In 2021 we released 42 new SKUs. My role when starting in 2022 was to conduct market research and then make product release recommendations based on my findings to increase our success rate. I have done this for 64 disparate markets while working for Lakanto, my process is outlined below.
Process
Market Segmentation- Some of the most common segments in this industry come with the inclusion of specific ingredients (protein, vitamins, fiber) or the exclusion of ingredients with a negative perception (sugar, carbs, saturated fats). The product types constitute segments too; liquid sweetener drops, sweetener tablets, granular bagged sweetener, and individual sweetener packets are all varieties of the same product made with different uses in mind.
Search Demand- Commonly searched keywords tell me a lot about demand. There are often incongruencies between what customers are looking for and the available products, which can mean that there is space for a new product launch.
Customer Reviews- Common complaints and positive reviews are a good way to find what’s working and what’s best to avoid what competitors have tried. Any unaddressed pain points for consumers usually rear their heads when reading competitor reviews. I built a custom Amazon scraper and Excel dashboard, both helping to make this step a piece of pie.
Market Share- Taking into account product mentions, sales data, and traffic, I can estimate market share by brand and who our top competitors are.
These steps come together as a market analysis, consumer summary, and a list of all possible spaces for product innovation.
