The product life cycle refers to the stages that a product goes through in the market. It is a tool used in marketing to designate the conditions under which a product is sold. The conditions under which a product is sold change over time, this is what the product life cycle measures, so that sales strategies can be adjusted according to the stages of the product in the most appropriate way possible.
The market is not static, it is constantly moving. What was effective and popular a few years ago, today is nothing more than a memory at best. That is why, when devising a new product, its life cycle must be monitored.
The product life cycle (PLC) measures the evolution of a product’s sales over time. The department in charge of measuring it is the Marketing department and it is used to adjust the pricing, distribution and promotion strategies that a company applies to a product to its needs in the market.
There are no fixed stages; each product evolves independently. However, it is a good idea to compare sales of similar products to see how well a product is doing at a given point in time.
The stages of the product life cycle are as follows:
Introduction stage: This is the stage in which the product is newly introduced to the market, in which you are trying to establish the brand and ensuring the best quality of the product within the market. In addition to selecting the business model, distribution and initiating the promotion of the product.
Growth stage: At this stage, the quality of the product must be maintained, as well as paying attention to all the recommendations made by your customers regarding improvements that can be added to the product.
Maturity stage: In this stage, the main objective is to counteract the competition, so it is a stage in which you can lower prices to ensure that your competitors can not match.
Decline stage: In this stage, the ideal is to recognize the moment in which the product is no longer viable. It is time to create a new product and give it diffusion. It is also time to close the old operations.
The stages are not usually measured in equal parts, sometimes they last longer, sometimes they last less.