Squishable.com puts customers at the center of product innovation
Squishable.com has found a reliable and cost-saving product innovation tool in Facebook.
Creating a product that’s a dud can spell doom for a small company. Given this risk, stuffed animal maker Squishable.com decided to search for a way to make sure that each new plushy it developed would be a winner. The six-person company finally found a reliable process by using Facebook.
Before production begins, the brand now asks more than a quarter of a million fans to vote on which animal—Platypus, Narwhal and Kiwi are among the latest—should become a new Squishable. Only the critters that are the top vote getters move ahead.
Once in the design phase, Squishable.com posts its sketches on Facebook, asking for fan feedback. All the key decisions—whether the Kiwi ends up being blue or purple, for example—are made by fans.
Squishable.com’s social product innovation seems to be a hit for the toymaker. Products are back-ordered for months and the company’s fan base continues to grow. And there’s nothing squishy about those results.