Scarcity - Road To Successful Product Launch

When products are launched, there is marketing involved. There is huge marketing budget and accordingly the product is advertised at different places. What I believe is that if you have some stock ready for the products, the chances of selling it are higher. The reason is, not all customers are willing to wait. This is not about bigger projects like installation of equipment, etc. where everything is made as per the need of the client. Client decides what he wants, gives advance money and then that work is installed at his place. I am talking about the smaller product. There are some customers who can plan their purchase and so will wait for the order till it comes. This specially happens where there are long queues. If the customer wants the product now, then there is a good chance of a sale if it is readily available. 

But a waiting list is a different ball game. When a perception is created among the prospects that the product is in scarcity, then the demand actually rises. I will give a couple of examples. Take the case of Honda's Activa. It is the best scooter available and it has at least a couple of months waiting. Still people go for it. The fact that there is a waiting period actually works in Activa's favor. It is having a waiting period, means it is in high demand which naturally gives impression that it is of high quality w.r.t. the pricing. a value product.

Take another case. Mi phones. The company Mi should get a PhD degree to use the 'Scarcity' card. Whenever they launch a phone, they announce and keep some date and time as a slot when it will be available. And only limited stock is available. 'May be this "limited stock" is more than the regular stock of another brand phone'. But the word 'limited' works wonders. Each time there is a sale of Mi phone, people go gaga over it and scramble to buy because they are very limited. The scarcity card is at play here. The card of fear of loss. If you do not buy now, you will not get another chance. This is the card which compels people to buy the product. If it does apply to you, you must try it.