The purpose behind consumer product testing

Consumer product testing is a common practice in the modern world of business. Because of the massive amounts of money and intense competition involved in retail sales, manufacturers need to make sure that they are introducing the best and most attractive goods into the marketplace. Guesswork is simply not an option when such large amounts of money are at stake. Most firms employ groups of product testers to use and evaluate their new merchandise, or latest variants of existing items, before releasing them to the general public. This affords the makers the opportunity to discover and address any problems or concerns before they invest huge amounts of capital in manufacturing large amounts of the product and devote even more resources to advertising. It also allows the identification of the qualities the users most enjoy. Consumer product testing and fun surveys are an integral part of modern business and marketing.

The purpose of testing products before releasing them to the public is to gather feedback from real world people. The most valuable information that can be obtained is from everyday people who are potential clients. Product testers are not scientists or engineers. They are regular consumers who agree to use prototype units and provide their honest feedback to the corporation. Often this will consist of simple free paid surveys, often online, that may ask for evaluation of everything from the product appearance and packaging to functionality to ease of use. The manufacturers are then able to use the thoughts and opinions of the product testing subjects to refine and improve their product and its marketing before it arrives on the store shelves.