I decided to gear up and head out into the wild frontier; my local grocery store. I packed blue hospital grade latex gloves, stuffed a airline legal container of liquid germ killer into my pocket, grabbed my ever elusive keys and made the trek.
I arrived at my local market. It was not overrun and there no fights over the last loaf of bread, it quite normal. That is until I saw with my own eyes the empty shelves.
As I fruitlessly wandered searching for sustenance for my family, I realized something. A particular trend became clear to me.
In this extreme situation there were products that were clearly left behind.
One category in particular caught my attention. It was the cereal isle.
So what can a Product Manager learn from this?
There’s at least three lesson to learn.
If it’s not selling stop selling it.
First if you’re product doesn’t sell during a run on your product category you might want to consider killing the product. If you can’t sell it during a crisis, chances are you’re not selling during a normal time. I think the situation makes it obvious but we’ll have to wait and see if those products remain on the shelves after things get back to something that resembles normal.
Until you’ve tasted it, it’s too late. To late. (quote from Excalibur, Merlin)
Extreme situations like this give a product manager a unique opportunity to look into the future. Extremes created by world events such as a pandemic can give a product manager insight into their product(s).
In this case, supply chain comes up but for a Product Manager, what we can see is a unique call for items and goods in an extreme situation and we can see a clear picture of what the consumer believes is important to them.
Throughout the store, items in cans were totally sold out while items packed glass or stored in
packets were left on the shelves. This is so interesting and a learning point in what the consumer feels is best and most reliable.
Hopefully this will be the last of this type of situation for some time but understanding the product category and how it might respond to a consumer rush I think is vital for a Product Manger to understand.
This is not over, not by a long shot.
Hopefully we will not face a situation like this for a while, but reality is that Covid-19 is likely going to be a challenge for a while. Social distancing, the impact that government rules/laws/regulations will have on small businesses, large businesses and all commerce in general, the fact that schools will likely shutdown for the rest of the year and the impact that will have is going to affect consumers and what they buy.
Most importantly it gives product managers an opportunity to consider re-imagining products and position them for the future
In short you don’t want your product to be one left on the shelves during a crisis. To me, it means you’re the last choice all the time even in desperate situations.
Be safe, and wash your hands.