Pre-Launch Research Rarely Tells You If a Product Will Sell
Ecommerce founders face significant challenges validating new product ideas, often encountering lengthy timelines, inaccurate feedback, and a disconnect between concept and reality. Many find traditional validation methods insufficient, leading to wasted time and resources. A combined validation and development approach is often necessary for success.
SOURCES (60)
“I’ll be vague about what I’m building because I don’t want this to come across as promotion, but I need to give some context. I’m building a startup in an extremely crowded industry. The six major players in this space have collectively raised over $1.3B…”
“This quote hits different when you're in market research. Most businesses ask customers what they want and then build it. But the companies that actually win aren't just listening they're anticipating. They're spotting patterns in behavior, frustration, and unmet needs before the customer can even articulate them. That's the real value of good research: it's not just collecting feedback, it's uncovering the why behind the behavior. The gap between what people say and”
“I’ve been trying to get better at validating ideas before I spend time building anything. The advice I always hear is to talk to potential customers, understand their workflow, and figure out what problems they actually have. That makes sense, but how do you actually do that when you have zero experience in the industry? For example, one idea I’ve thought about is software for wedding planners/coordinators. I’m planning my own wedding, so I’ve seen a little bit from the customer side, but I obvi”
“I’ve been trying to get better at validating ideas before I spend time building anything. The advice I always hear is to talk to potential customers, understand their workflow, and figure out what problems they actually have. That makes sense, but how do you actually do that when you have zero experience in the industry? For example, one idea I’ve thought about is software for wedding planners/coordinators. I’m planning my own wedding, so I’ve seen a little bit from the customer side, but I obvi”
“Basically I am looking for an idea for my fydp something we could also market as a product. Our initial one got rejected due to low demand and a generic/ez idea. Also it should be at smthng that takes at least 1 year to complete. We are looking for something complex. Would appreciate any ideas from people who know where things are lacking. We have tried ai for ideas all are generic or not that impressive. submitted by /u/UnderstandingOk9237 [link] [comments]”
“Do not treat marketing as the reward you get after the product is finished. Set a two-week test with one customer type, one problem, and twenty conversations. Ask people who currently feel the problem to describe the last time it happened, how they handle it today, and what that workaround costs them. Then ask for one concrete next step: a demo, pilot, or pre-order. The result you want is not praise. It is evidence that someone will trade time or money to solve the problem. Which single customer”
“I’d treat field testing as part of the product, not something you leave until the model is “done”. You need to know what decision it supports, how quickly someone has to act and what happens when sensor data is missing. From what I’ve seen with Intelliarts, the better projects involve agronomists or actual operators from the prototype stage. One messy real-world pilot prob teach you more than another perfect test dataset.”
“When I started dropshipping, my product research was basically scrolling through products, thinking “this looks interesting,” and then running ads. I assumed the ads were the problem when nothing happened. Looking back, I was skipping one of the most important parts: understanding what actual buyers were saying about the product. A product can look great in a video and still have dozens of complaints hiding in its reviews. That experience eventually pushed me to build Pikwisely. It lets me paste”
“Hey guys new to building saas and websites/apps. I am curious how successful ideas are validated. Been trying multiple ideas but not sure if there will be any converting users on the platform. Can anyone please guide me regarding this ?😅 submitted by /u/Dev_Spark [link] [comments]”
“I wouldn't trust any single demand or trend metric on its own. I usually want to see several things line up, actual search demand, competing products that are already selling, realistic margins after shipping/returns/fees, and some evidence that people are willing to pay the price rather than just clicking on the idea. Then I'd rather spend a small amount validating the offer before committing to inventory. A product can look amazing on a trend chart and still be horrible once you accoun”
“in the example you cite, a lifestyle brand launching a new product would likely cover most of the marketing and product production costs, while the merchant hosting + serving the limited edition "lifestyle brand" flavor is likely covering their own labor and fulfillment costs, making their money on the product sold. Perhaps they get the featured product at a steep discount allowing better margins. Or Maybe the brand "buys out" the shop for a day or a weekend, covering all the”
“One thing I’ve noticed with product research is that the data is usually scattered. You might check demand in one place, competition somewhere else, then pricing and trends separately. That makes it hard to tell whether a product is actually worth testing or just looks good on one metric. Stocksi.ai looks at those signals together, which makes the research process easier to compare and understand. submitted by /u/Jinho07310 [link] [comments]”
“We’re building a business where creators identify and sell physical products to their audiences, while we handle sourcing, manufacturing, QC, and operations. The tricky part is structuring the relationship once a product succeeds. Would you favor: a wholesale model where the creator buys from us; revenue/profit sharing; royalties on product sales; or jointly building a separate brand? My biggest concern is creating enough upside for the creator to stay involved long-term without making the owner”
“My background is finance and operations so I don’t code in my day to day. I’ve always been entrepreneurial and wondered if I could use ai to build a product over the course of a few months. I’m pretty proud of where I got to given my lack of technical knowledge (so please be kind if you have constructive feedback!) but nonetheless wanted ask how folks got their first customers. I don’t want to spend a ton of money on advertising right away. The product does rev recovery for failed stripe payment”
“Hi everyone, I’m 16 and I’m currently working on a B2C SaaS idea that I’m genuinely excited about-Before I start learning to code seriously or building an MVP I want to make sure I’m not making the mistake of building something that nobody actually wants, so I want to properly validate the idea first. For those of you who have built B2C SaaS products or validated consumer products before: What is the right way to validate a B2C SaaS idea before building it? What should I ask potential customer t”
“Whenever I come across an idea or a problem that could potentially become a product I seem to get stuck on the same question: Is this idea already validated, or is it actually something new? And I keep running into three scenarios: -Lots of competitors: I start thinking, “This market is already saturated”. Then I imagine having to find some amazing differentiator, compete with established products and fight an even harder battle for marketing and customer acquisition. -No competitors: I start th”
“I want to create a business that sells only organic natural products from cosmetics to shampoo and other stuff And i want to know your opinion on how would you go about studying and analyzing the market to see if that business will work or not submitted by /u/NoIndependent1934 [link] [comments]”
“I am creating a small B2B SaaS product called Subcheck. The concept is simple in that companies which use subcontractors can keep all their important documents in one place, such as insurance certificates, business registrations, compliance documents, and expiry dates, etc. Subcontractors have the option of uploading their own documents, after which the company at once knows which ones are complete, which ones are missing, and which ones are about to expire. At the moment my greater concern is s”
“This is one of the easiest traps to fall into. This has been studied for years. What people say they plan to buy does not perfectly match what they actually buy. This is called the gap between purchase intention and purchase behavior. Saying yes costs nothing but buying does. The second you ask someone for $80, they start thinking about whether they really need it, or what else they could buy, etc. Someone saying I would buy this is useful information, but someone giving you their email is bette”
Working on an app and want to sanity-check the concept before opening up a beta. Idea: photograph something you own, an AI reads the actual wear from the photo and gives a…
“Mine is actually an onboarding tool for agency owners. And I got the idea but how to find that my idea is actually solving a problem for potential users. A lot of people say Validate by talking to potential users Cold Dms Give an landing page Early offers But actually I don't know anything, I am starting from scratch. And I need to achieve something in life. Guys just give Mee your advice submitted by /u/CodeShift88 [link] [comments]”
“Hi all, I am an engineering student developing a new hardware product and wanted to validate consumer demand via ads to check business feasibility. I have a budget of around $500, and I want to test if people are willing to pay a small amount as a deposit for the product before I spend more time and money into developing a commercial version. However, as I haven't really done social media marketing before I wanted your advice to improve my website, ads or any other tips for me. This is my pr”
“This Friday, I tested our product-market fit for our idea by speaking directly with a major local bank. Thanks to a contact, I met the Deputy Manager at the bank’s main district office and asked about their marketing and advertising approach. He shared that the bank has an advertising budget of several lakhs and typically uses billboards for campaigns. I explained the concept, use cases, and the value it delivers: targeted, memorable placements that complement traditional outdoor advert”
“True. Also, a traction test is a good practice. Test your product or a service with an X number of customers to see if there’s need, how customers behaves, what are the key takeaways etc.”
“I spent the past few months researching 57 sales tools for a product I was building. I manually checked pricing, screenshotted the source pages, and figured once the research was done I could mostly move on to building. Then I did another verification pass right before launch. Within a few months, 14 of the 57 tools had changed pricing or tiers. Another 3 records had mistakes I'd made the first time, and 6 needed smaller renames or cleanup. The changes weren't cosmetic either. There were”
“Following the 'talk to customers before writing code' rule seriously spent the last 2 weeks speaking to business owners and marketing teams about what actually happens to customer testimonials after they collect them here's what I keep hearing: → Most businesses have folders full of testimonials collecting dust → The average utilization rate is maybe 5-10% of what they collect → The bottleneck is always time and nobody owning the process → The ones who DO use them systematically outp”
“I have a product in the market. 90 days in the market 160+ users Genuinely enjoying the product (100s of product events every day) Clearly delivering value (3 to 4x better results than other products in the market) - said by 2 customers 4 paid users so far. 80% of them still trialing. I don’t expect a lot to convert. I don’t know what’s the average conversion rate in the market. 15 to 17 daily active users - again most are trialing (I'm giving one month trial and my CAC is about $4-7 for the”
“Curious about this from people who’ve actually done it, not built it. If you’ve bought an MVP, a small SaaS tool, or paid for pre-built software instead of building in-house: What made you comfortable buying something you didn’t build yourself? Was it more about proof it worked (user numbers, revenue), or more about whether you’d actually be able to use/run it once you had it (docs, handoff, support)? Also curious if anyone’s been burned buying something that “worked” technically but was a night”
“La standard del mercado para validar producto siendo pobres es crearle una landing ofreciendo tu producto que obviamente no tenes, pones suscribite a esta maravillosa aplicacion y si sos de los suertudos de estar entre los 100 primeros es gratis y le mandas formulario de suscripcion después que puso el nombre, apellido, email, etc lo mandas por un derrotero de preguntas multiple choice que chatgpt te ayudo a armarlas, cuando termina le mandas una pagina que diga gracias por suscribiste al igual”
“My prev attempt lessons: I have an experience from building a b2c saas earlier that pretty much dead now after months of trying everything but validating the idea with my targeted customers. A promise to myself: So I took a promise that I won't start building any product without validating it with my main targeted audience. So my question now how do I validate a product before building it? And how to find the channels where I can I find those audience? My targeted audience: I am targeting Sh”
“Before launch, it is easy to imagine a clean customer profile and a predictable buying process. Real customers often use the product differently, ask unexpected questions, or care about a benefit you never emphasized. What surprised you most during the first 100 customers, and how did that discovery change your offer, pricing, or marketing? submitted by /u/profitwithgene [link] [comments]”
“i was researching a new market recently and at first it looked like there was plenty of information to work with. Company websites, industry reports, search results, social media.... evrything seemed easy to find but the deeper I looked, the harder it became to tell what was actually happening some companies had a huge online presence but didn’t seem to be making the biggest moves. meanwhile, a few smaller companies with barely any visibility seemed much more active behind the scenes It made me”
“I'm exploring an idea and would genuinely like feedback from founders who have built software products. The premise: You have a product idea, but building the technology behind it is expensive and time-consuming. Instead of hiring developers and building the entire stack yourself, what if you could have the product delivered as a service? You would own the business, customer relationship and product direction. The technology provider would provide and operate the underlying application and i”
“Have you ever been on Product Hunt as a consumer ? Ask 10 people around you that are not business owners if they know product hunt. You have your answer then”
“When we're developing a product, one of the tests we do with a new prototype is hand it to someone who's never seen it before and give them no explanation or manual. Then we watch for which button they press first, where they put their hands, and most importantly, how long it takes them to figure out the product. We do this to figure out how easy the product is to use without instructions and how people will naturally try to use it. If the person can't quickly figure out the product,”
“I am thinking of starting my own (software) business. It is solves a problem I have. How do I make sure others are willing to pay to solve this problem? I mean, some people are getting horrible results I imagine but are OK with. The software should make their results look "nice and tidy" I want to know exactly what to do in order to know the following : Are Individuals willing to pay for my software, and Are small businesses willing to pay for it too? Successful founders, what did you”
“I'm trying to build my first AI SaaS, but I don't want to waste time creating something nobody wants. For those of you who've built products before: How did you validate your idea? Did you interview people, use Reddit, analyze competitors, or do something else? What was the biggest sign that told you an idea was actually worth building? I'm especially interested in methods that don't require a big budget or an existing audience. I'd really appreciate hearing what worked (”
“Validation is only one part of the equation. The other part is product differentiation and switching cost. Even if your product is validated, you still need to answer one question: Does it provide enough value for people to switch from what they’re currently using? If the answer is yes, you’ll have a much better chance of acquiring users.”
“So I had and idea for a Shopify app to address some specific e-commerce challenges in my country. Before starting development, I decided to follow the advice of talking to customer's first. So I got a list of shopify stores, got their contacts on their store page and started messaging. Didn't mention anything about specific features. Basically I'm being straight forward about what I'm planning and that I would like a 20 min chat if possible to understand where their pains really”
“Your third question mostly answers itself, but only if the missing-evidence list is short. Say five things you couldn't verify and people read it as the tool knows nothing, say one and it reads as careful. Rather than asking here, hand it to someone shopping for something real this week and watch whether they open the alternatives or go straight back to Amazon. What's the fact the brief most often can't verify right now?”
“After a few failed startup attempts, I realized I kept doing the easiest part first - building. Everyone says, "Validate before you build," but what does that actually look like in practice? A landing page and waitlist only tell me if people are curious. They don't tell me whether users actually understand the product or if they'd pay for it. Figma prototypes help, but creating a polished interactive prototype can end up taking almost as much effort as building the MVP. So I”
“After a few failed startup attempts, I realized I'd been doing the easiest part first - building . Everyone says, "Validate before you build," but I'm struggling with what that actually looks like. A landing page and waitlist only tell me if people are curious. They don't tell me whether users actually understand the product or if they'd use it. Figma prototypes help, but designing an entire interactive flow can end up being almost as much work as building the MVP itsel”
“I’ve worked with a lot of founders from hardware-tech service industry. Think of them as installers, consultants, or enablers of technology. They bridge the gap between a business problem and an available solution. Notice how I say available solution, because these founders often don’t start with their own custom-made products. And honestly, neither should you. If you want to enter an industry, it would be much wiser to identify an operational problem, buy a suitable off-the-shelf solution, and”
“Hi guys, How do you validate assumptions with users who are seniors and represent corporates? My domain is capital markets and my company is relatively small. When I want to validate ideas I have to build high fidelity prototypes or push to production to see how users adopt them. Only once in a while do I get the opportunity to schedule a demo with clients. Most of the time these users join as a whole financial department, so it's not that agile. It's always very official. Now apply rese”
“Hi all I have to conduct a market research where I have to visit certain stores that sell products online and then understand some of their processes. I have the stores that I want to visit/contact but I do not know how to approach without them ghosting me. People who have done similar surveys, how did you approach them and convince them to give some of their time. I can try cold messaging but I feel it would get ignored easily. submitted by /u/ruthwik34 [link] [comments]”
“Everyone seems to have a different workflow. Some people spend a lot of time researching prices and demand before buying anything, while others move quickly if the numbers look close enough. Lately I've been trying to be more data-driven instead of relying on gut feeling. I've even been testing like dealsonar to compare sourcing opportunities before committing to a purchase, just to avoid obvious mistakes. How detailed is your research process, and has it helped you avoid bad buys?”
“Is it straightforward? Or is it an abstract process? I have a site about anti-phishing; ozarc.io I wanted to make like an ‘anti-phishing almanack’ to promote to that audience. But should I look and do research on whats already selling in this space? Is it a good idea to test as long as it makes sense given the audience? How do you guys approach launching / validating a new digital product? submitted by /u/SnooSquirrels9906 [link] [comments]”
“Choose 100 of your existing customers randomly. Ask them to describe your product/service in their own words. Then look at how you describe your product/service on your website. look at the gaps. Really look at the specific words. Really consider exactly what they’re saying and how they’re saying it. Compare that directly with the words you’re using, the descriptions you’re presenting, the picture you’re painting. In the end, you may know what to say and how to say it. submitted by /”
“I’ve built many products throughout my career, but one challenge I continue to struggle with is properly validating my ideas before investing significant time into building them. I often find myself getting excited about a problem, jumping straight into designing and developing a solution, and only later realizing that I haven’t fully validated whether the problem is painful enough, whether people actually want the solution, or whether they would pay for it. I know that building quickly is impor”
“You can make almost anything work if you position it differently and market to a different segment. Every product has demand they exist for a reason.”
“I work on a mockup-generation product, but I’m not looking for app reviews or installs here. I’m trying to understand how merchants evaluate mockup tools when they’re deciding whether to use one. For POD sellers specifically: • Do you use a dedicated mockup tool, or just whatever comes with your print provider? • What makes a mockup look “good enough” to use on a product listing? • How important are realistic shadows, fabric texture, hand models, lifestyle scenes, etc.? • If a tool has a free ti”
I've been launching some new products recently, and I'm interested in everyone's opinion on what is considered a dud vs. too soon to judge. For context, I launched a product a month…
“I’m exploring a B2B SaaS idea and trying to understand the problem deeply before building anything. For founders who have built SaaS products, how did you validate that a problem was painful enough? Did you start with user interviews, communities, cold outreach, or something else? submitted by /u/Competitive-Emu-4411 [link] [comments]”
“I’d separate “validation” into 3 layers, because people often mix them together. Problem validation — do people actually have this pain, and is it frequent/expensive enough? Offer validation — does a specific promise make them take action? Acquisition validation — can you reach those people at a cost that makes the business work? The mistake I see founders make is treating conversations or survey responses as proof. They’re useful, but they mostly measure politeness. I’d rather see behavior: cli”
“How did you validate your idea ? Have you done that before developing ? Are you sure that what you created solves a real problem ?”
“That framing will probably make the product easier to trust too. If you label outputs as “assumptions to test” instead of “customer truth,” the user knows what job the tool is doing. The output could even split into: - likely objections - risky assumptions - better interview questions - wording to test - evidence still needed from real users That makes it useful without overselling certainty.”