Question

Topic: Other

It: Why Do Products Become Solutions?

Posted by brovashov on 2/27/2020 at 2:09 AM ET 25 Points
It is common for IT equipment manufacturers' marketing creep from products to solutions. Is it inevitable? Finally, the product is just a product. Pulling few boxes together or putting software on the top is not necessary what (all) customers need. Sometimes they would prefer to buy just boxes. Another argument is, if every vendor offers solutions, customers perceptions become less clear. Aren't products-turned-solutions are just harming distinct positioning?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 2/27/2020 at 7:09 AM Member
    Ultimately, people purchase products because they provide solutions to their needs. Marketing solutions makes it easier for people to see a unique benefit to their offering – in the same way that using a mannequin shows how an outfit looks (rather than simply having separate pieces on a shelf).
  • Posted by Mike Steffes on 2/27/2020 at 9:20 AM Accepted
    You said it yourself: "is not necessary what (all) customers need". People sell pie filling, pie crusts, frozen pies, pre-baked pies, and pie slices. It's a great big world out there with lots of customers with lots of different needs.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 2/27/2020 at 12:19 PM Accepted
    On B2B, I see products becoming solutions over time pretty often due to added functionality being offered. A manufacturer finds that the product they offer alone is not enough. Maybe their product doesn't install easy, maybe there is additional actions by the manufacturer are needed to make the product work, etc. As the manufacturer starts doing these actions to help sell the product, and start charging for these actions, they switch from calling it a product to calling it a service.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 2/27/2020 at 10:28 PM Member
    We buy solutions rather than products.
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