Product Life Cycle - Explained
What is the Product Lifecycle?
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 21st, 2024
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What is a Product Life Cycle?
Product life cycle measures the total lifespan of a product. It begins when a product is first conceived in the development stage and continues through when it first goes to market. Finally, it ends when the product is removed from the market.
Product life cycles are broken down into five distinct phases:
- development,
- introduction,
- growth,
- maturity, and
- decline.
Determining where the product is in its life cycle is important because each stage has its own unique marketing strategy, including different advertising tactics, discount options, and engagement techniques.
What are the Stages in a Product Life Cycle?
The major stages of a product life cycle are as follows:
- Research & Development: Starts when a product is first conceived and continues until launch.
- Introduction: The phase where a product is officially introduced into the marketplace.
- Growth: The stage where a products sales are increasing at its fastest rate.
- Maturity: Marks the period where product sales growth rates are beginning to slow.
- Decline: The phase of the cycle where sales growth begins to decline.
You can determine where a product is in its life cycle by simply analyzing and comparing sales rates. Its in a business's best interest to extend a products growth and maturity phases by as much time as possible. In addition to extended growth & maturity, the decline phase is delayed for as long as possible. To extend the product life cycle, businesses utilize many different strategies, including:
- Advertising: Find a new audience or re-engage with an existing one.
- Price Reduction: Sellers lower prices to attract make the product more attractive.
- Adding Value: Augment the existing product with new features or improve specs.
- Target New Markets: Bring the product into geographical markets or re-release products in way more target to different demographics.
- New Packaging / Branding: Make changes to the products packaging or branding.
Related Topics
- What is a Product?
- What Types of Product are There?
- Durable Goods
- How are Goods Different from Services?
- What Components do Products Include?
- What is Product Quality?
- Perceived Value of a Product
- Why is Product Packaging Important?
- White Label Product
- What is Product Warranty?
- Innovation Adoption Curve
- Product Life Cycle