Cost reduction strategies that don't harm your brand

''Less is more'' can be true in product development, but it's crucial you know exactly what to cut from your product—especially if the goal is to reduce costs, while also keeping customers happy.

While most companies focus on trimming pennies from production costs after launch, we want to shift the focus in this article. With a different approach, significant savings can also be made based on an understanding of exactly what your customers value before investing in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. Here's how. 

The hidden cost of reactive cost reduction

The most expensive product you'll ever make is the one consumers don't want. This can easily happen when a company finds itself in a financial pinch. After disappointing sales, shrinking margins or growing competitive pressure, something's gotta give. And that something is often found in products.

This is the most traditional cost-cutting strategy. It's reactive, often not backed by research, and it's rarely consumer-centric. It's more about what makes the spreadsheets turn a normal color again. But the downside of that is clear:

• Quality often suffers in ways customers immediately notice
• Brand perception takes a hit as consumers feel "short changed"
• Product performance declines, driving customers to competitors
• Teams make decisions based on assumptions, not consumer insights

You might save pennies today, but it costs dollars tomorrow when your customer base erodes and market share plummets. If there's nobody left to sell your dressed-down products to, what's the point? 

Proactive vs. reactive cost reduction: how does it compare?

Blindly slashing your way to savings is risky. Because at some point, your customers will start paying the price. Here's a quick overview of how proactive cost reduction can turn the tables, before we dive deeper into the how and what. 

Using consumer testing to cut costs while improving products

Proactive cost reduction starts with a fundamentally different question than you'd expect from someone hoping to reduce costs: "What do consumers actually value?"

Rather than asking "What can we cut?" smart brands ask "What should we invest in?" This distinction seems subtle, but it's incredibly powerful, and more practical than you'd think. It helps you focus your resources on what truly matters to your customers, which means you can often reduce costs while improving the consumer experience. How about that?

In-home usage testing (IHUT) and alienation testing reveal exactly what features and qualities matter most to consumers—and which ones they don't notice or care about. Here's all the ways they can highlight potential savings. 

Finding unnecessary features or ingredients

What product developers believe matters and what consumers actually notice or care about isn't always the same thing. IHUT can reveal that in the most realistic terms. Time and time again, companies discover that costly ingredients or overengineered features they've incorporated simply don't register with consumers in blind tests. 

It might be a super premium ingredient that is indistinguishable in taste tests or doesn't mean anything in your marketing efforts. Or electronics that come with super advanced features that the average user will never even discover. There are entire Reddit threads dedicated to hidden features in iPhones and other products. Imagine being the developer who worked years on that. Ouch. 

Through consumer testing, you can identify what causes “bloating” in your products:

• Costly ingredients that don't affect perceived quality
• Premium features that consumers don't use or value
• Over-engineered aspects that don't improve user experience
• "Nice-to-have" elements that don't drive purchase decisions
  
  

Optimizing packaging based on real usage

Packaging often represents a significant chunk of a product's total cost, making it a prime target for optimization. But cutting corners on packaging without understanding usage patterns can backfire spectacularly.

In-home testing reveals how packaging actually performs in the messy reality of your customers' daily lives. It helps you determine:

• What packaging features drive perceived value
• Which premium finishes matter to consumers
• How packaging functions in real homes
• What consumers struggle with during actual use
  
  

Optimizing usage instructions and customer education

It's not just about the physical product. IHUT can reveal other potential areas of saving that are related to how your customers are interacting with your product. It can show you how they interpret instructions, use the actual product, and go about any issues. How can this save you money?

Well, when consumers misuse products, it leads to higher return rates, increased customer service costs, and damaged brand perception. These are hidden costs that can add up quickly but are often overlooked in traditional cost-cutting exercises.

Through in-home testing, you could discover:

• Instructions that confuse users and drive up support calls
• Usage patterns that waste product or reduce effectiveness
• Common mistakes that lead to returns or negative reviews
• Opportunities to extend product life through better care instructions
• User education gaps that, when filled, reduce service costs and improve loyalty
  
  

How to get started with proactive cost reductions

It might seem counterintuitive or bad timing to invest in research when you should be cutting costs. Truthfully, IHUT is not a last resort. But if you want to proactively build a future-proof cost reduction strategy, now is a great time to start. Here's how to do it.

Determine the best time to test in your development cycle

The earlier you incorporate consumer testing, the greater your potential savings. But for every type of product, the right time can be different. Early-stage testing prevents investment in features or attributes that don't deliver value, while late-stage testing helps refine and optimize before full-scale production. Most successful brands test at multiple points:

1. Concept stage: Validate basic value proposition
2. Prototype stage: Test core features and attributes
3. Pre-launch validation: Confirm final formulation and packaging
4. Post-launch renovation: Identify improvement opportunities
   
   

Know what key areas to focus on for cost savings

Consumer testing can expose cost-reduction opportunities that you may not have thought of. 

Design & engineering optimization

• Which product features drive purchase intent?
• What aspects of the user experience can be simplified?
• Which components or ingredients can be substituted without affecting performance?

Inventory and materials management

• How do consumers actually use your product in their homes?
• What usage patterns could inform packaging size or configuration?
• Which product variations deliver the most value?

Quality improvement & defect reduction

• What quality issues matter most to consumers?
• Which performance attributes drive repurchase?
• How does your product perform in real-world environments?

Regulatory compliance & risk management

• How do consumers interpret your claims?
• What usage behaviors might present safety concerns?
• What documentation or instructions actually get read?
  
  

Sneaky traps to avoid in IHUT for cost reduction

Even with the best consumer testing program, there are several traps that can undermine your cost reduction efforts:

1. Testing with the wrong consumers: Make sure your test participants match your target market
2. Asking leading questions: Structure your research to get honest feedback, not confirmation of your assumptions
3. Neglecting qualitative insights: Relying solely on quantitative metrics misses unexpected cost-saving opportunities. Open-ended questions and video feedback often reveal what consumers truly value (that you'd never think to measure)
4. Overlooking longitudinal insights: Some product issues only emerge after extended use
5. Misinterpreting data: Ensure your analysis distinguishes between correlation and causation
   
   

Measuring the success of your cost reduction strategies

If you get cost reduction right through consumer insights it will impact more than just the hard numbers around your product development. You should also keep an eye on:

• Consumer satisfaction: Track performance against key satisfaction metrics
• Competitive advantage: Assess performance against benchmark products
• Long-term loyalty: Monitor repeat purchase rates and customer engagement
  
  

Build better products for less

The most valuable insight we want you to take away from this is that with consumer-informed cost reduction, "cheaper" doesn't have to mean "worse." In many cases, products become better when unnecessary complexity is removed.

Product testing research consistently shows that consumers value simplicity, usability, and core performance over the bells and whistles that often drive up production costs or make them dependent on your customer support. 

Want to learn how tech-enabled product research can help you reduce costs while improving your products? Schedule a demo with Highlight to discover how in-home testing provides the insights you need to make smarter, more cost-effective product decisions.