Product life cycle
Product life cycle is a concept that attempts to describe the product sales and profits, consumers, competition and specific marketing actions undertaken in its appearance and until his removal from the market 21, or more specifically, the time between at launch a product in a particular market and that of its total withdrawal from the marketplace. 22
In essence, life cycle stages are launch, growth, maturity and decline. Many authors consider the process of product creation as a distinct stage of life cycle, placing it before the launch produsului.23
The product launch phase, the main objective of the company is to inform consumers about the appearance of the new product; costs in this stage are large, small sales and profits negligible, even negative. The product is presented in one of at most two variants, distribution, especially for expensive items such as cars is limited, selective.
Growth phase is characterized by a rapid increase in sales and profit; firm seeks to maximize market share and to create a strong brand. Consumers are numerous but many competitors and imitators appear. Businesses must diversify product range to expand distribution and boost brand preference.
The maturity stage sales volume stabilizes. The organization tries to maintain competitive advantage by improving product characteristics, extending the warranty and after-sale discounts. It achieves mass consumption but competition is at the highest level. Promotion is very intense and competitive.
The decline stage sales fall sharply as other replacement products appear on the market and consumers' interest in the product disappears. Enterprise check if there are opportunities to make a profit and follows the optimal time to abandon the product. The product line is limited to the most popular models, the distribution again becomes selective and promotional activities is limited to the product advertised reminder