New product development tool promises reduced costs

The new tool, which combines Mintel's GNPD and IRI's InfoScan, will allow manufacturers to monitor the success of competitor products, in order to provide benchmarks about the sales potential of similar ideas. The firms said they expect the tool to reduce the risk of new product development, helping consumer packaged goods manufacturers to secure long-term success with their launches. An extension of Mintel's existing Global New Products Database (GNPD), GNPD IRIS also provides access to information from IRI's InfoScan, a scanner-based tracking service that processes point-of-sale data from stores on a weekly basis across seven countries. Data is provided for major channels of distribution in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. "New product introduction is closely linked to driving business results for manufacturers and retailers in most countries. Since everyday prices are often under pressure, the new products entering at premium prices help to keep the value contribution more stable. However, these new products need to succeed in order for this mechanism to work," said IRI President of Global Solutions Management Mark Tims. "GNPD IRIS will help turn the art of launching new products into a science by optimizing new product success rates through deeper trend understanding and analysis, including critical insights into the dynamics and diversity of a country," he added. GNPD, which last year tracked 180,000 product introductions, is currently used to monitor new trends and innovations. As part of the new tool, it will allow companies to monitor the sales successes and failures of new products and established brands. "By looking at the sales of products with similar features and monitoring their performance over time, GNPD IRIS will help companies establish realistic benchmarks about the sales potential of their new product ideas before committing to the next stage of development," said Mintel. GNPD IRIS is available to companies on a subscription basis from Mintel.

New product development tool promises reduced costs

Market researchers Mintel and Information Resources Inc (IRI) have teamed up to create a new product tracking service, which the firms claim will help food and beverage makers cut development costs by up to 80 percent.

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