Factors that make the product unique from another company or business’s product is what differentiation is called as. Quality, product design, convenience, valuation, product aesthetics, packaging, customer service, technology, user experience, and form are some of the means of differentiating products and services.
Each of the differentiating factors mentioned above impacts my purchasing habits in a way or other. But shrinking that list to top three, those factors would be valuation, user experience, and convenience. Looking further into this with examples starting off with valuation, both Apple and Acer produce laptops. While I was exploring for an option to get one, I went with the high-end laptop of Acer looking at the feature they provided along with the benefits that I can avail with the same. The pricing would have been same for both the product but the valuation that I had for Acer was a lot higher than the Apple to go with the same. Valuation, in this regard, is something that defines the perceived value and I was inclined towards it as my valuation of the product exceeded the cost I was paying for the same. Further on looking at the user experience regarding, I choose OnePlus as the company to purchase my smartphone from. This included of several factors at the time of purchase and one of which was the user experience, the smartphone used stock android as OS with customization to make it further appealing and easy to use for the user. With added features like a fingerprint scanner and face scan as modes to unlock the phone, it’s something that was appealing and would make the phone easier to use. The user experience is thus the overall experience of using a product or service like a smartphone here. And, looking at an example for the third differentiating factor in convenience. I would prefer to use eSewa, Khalti or similar other digital wallet or internet banking instead of going to the bank to withdraw or pay funds. That is convenience as I don’t have to wait in queue, commute or fill in long details to withdraw the amount. Another example of the same for me would be my preference to recharge my mobile with online modes rather than go to the shop to buy a recharge card, scratch it and enter the pin code. So, convenience is something that makes users life easier by simplifying the process or workflow.
Moving towards a brand that excels at a number of these means of differentiation reminds me of Alphabet, Apple, PayPal and Zappos to name a few. Alphabet the company which own Google and so many other services has been able to simplify the life of people with searches and results to it at the fingertips within minutes, maps to navigate around to documents, presentation and so many more, the company have added convenience, made use of the technology, ensuring the quality and product aesthetics are good in their hardware design (smartphones) and added a fantastic customer support to their customers. Apple has been able to provide a quality product with good design, product aesthetics, and packing. While PayPal has added convenience to people’s life by making it possible to send and receive money all via a single click instead of visiting the banks, they’ve made use of the technology in the base way possible with the inclusion of systems like code changing tokens (Four, 2007). Finally, Zappos is the other company which has been able to lead the industry as the best of all when it comes to customer service and user experience by providing a tailored response with full dedication towards every single customer (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2009).
To sum up, it’s very important to differentiate a product in the market and stand out among the mass. People have their own personal preference and factors they value the most important when it comes to differentiating factors.
References
Emerald Group Publishing Limited. (2009). Zappos knows how to kick it. Human Resource Management International Digest, 17
Factors that make the product unique from another company or business’s product is what differentiation is called as. Quality, product design, convenience, valuation, product aesthetics, packaging, customer service, technology, user experience, and form are some of the means of differentiating products and services.
Each of the differentiating factors mentioned above impacts my purchasing habits in a way or other. But shrinking that list to top three, those factors would be valuation, user experience, and convenience. Looking further into this with examples starting off with valuation, both Apple and Acer produce laptops. While I was exploring for an option to get one, I went with the high-end laptop of Acer looking at the feature they provided along with the benefits that I can avail with the same. The pricing would have been same for both the product but the valuation that I had for Acer was a lot higher than the Apple to go with the same. Valuation, in this regard, is something that defines the perceived value and I was inclined towards it as my valuation of the product exceeded the cost I was paying for the same. Further on looking at the user experience regarding, I choose OnePlus as the company to purchase my smartphone from. This included of several factors at the time of purchase and one of which was the user experience, the smartphone used stock android as OS with customization to make it further appealing and easy to use for the user. With added features like a fingerprint scanner and face scan as modes to unlock the phone, it’s something that was appealing and would make the phone easier to use. The user experience is thus the overall experience of using a product or service like a smartphone here. And, looking at an example for the third differentiating factor in convenience. I would prefer to use eSewa, Khalti or similar other digital wallet or internet banking instead of going to the bank to withdraw or pay funds. That is convenience as I don’t have to wait in queue, commute or fill in long details to withdraw the amount. Another example of the same for me would be my preference to recharge my mobile with online modes rather than go to the shop to buy a recharge card, scratch it and enter the pin code. So, convenience is something that makes users life easier by simplifying the process or workflow.
Moving towards a brand that excels at a number of these means of differentiation reminds me of Alphabet, Apple, PayPal and Zappos to name a few. Alphabet the company which own Google and so many other services has been able to simplify the life of people with searches and results to it at the fingertips within minutes, maps to navigate around to documents, presentation and so many more, the company have added convenience, made use of the technology, ensuring the quality and product aesthetics are good in their hardware design (smartphones) and added a fantastic customer support to their customers. Apple has been able to provide a quality product with good design, product aesthetics, and packing. While PayPal has added convenience to people’s life by making it possible to send and receive money all via a single click instead of visiting the banks, they’ve made use of the technology in the base way possible with the inclusion of systems like code changing tokens (Four, 2007). Finally, Zappos is the other company which has been able to lead the industry as the best of all when it comes to customer service and user experience by providing a tailored response with full dedication towards every single customer (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2009).
To sum up, it’s very important to differentiate a product in the market and stand out among the mass. People have their own personal preference and factors they value the most important when it comes to differentiating factors.
References
Emerald Group Publishing Limited. (2009). Zappos knows how to kick it. Human Resource Management International Digest, 17
Four, K. (2007). Paypal introduces code changing tokens. Computer Fraud & Security, 2007 (2),