Dive Into a New Product Category

The lesson learned: When you must go outside of your list universe to make the new product idea work, reconsider if it’s worth testing. There may be other products closer to the needs of your core customer that you can test first.

6. Use the Web to test products when and if it’s appropriate for your catalog and audience. If the Web comprises a high percentage of your sales, you probably can dabble with new products online, says Minix. The challenge: While the opportunity cost is low (because you’re not paying for printing and mailing), people browse through catalogs more than they do Web sites. So you have to place the new products on your Web site where they’ll be easily seen.