Creating value for customers in the process of new textile product development

Abstract

In line with the contemporary requirements of the fashion market and the development of new production technologies, which can be adapted to these requirements, new opportunities are emerging in the production segment of the textile and clothing industry. This industry can be characterized as creative industry in which innovation leads to sustainable development and competitive advantage. Innovation of products in fashion industry is a continuous process which should be properly managed so that its outcome could produce satisfactory results. As Ekstroem and Karlsson state, customer needs analysis has become more important over the time. Based on this statement, companies are becoming more customers oriented, and they tend to involve customers in process of new product development in order to increase the value outcomes of customer participation in mentioned process. This paper presents the evaluation of textile products value creation through the implementation of innovations in the development of new products based on customer involvement in the new product development process by gathering customer opinions. The research part of this paper seeks to examine the degree of product value creation for customers based on their own involvement in the process of developing new products. Focusing on the place of the involvement of customers in the process of creating values in different phases of the product development process and the degree of customer satisfaction with the outcome of the process in which they took a role. A small number of papers actually focuses on examination of the level of customers involvement within the various phases of the process of developing new textile products, and this paper is mainly oriented on examination within idea generation phase which could serve as an aid in new product development "front-end" decision making. The results of this research could be used as a guidance for formulating the future strategic steps of innovation within new product development based on ideas generated under the influence of the dialog between companies and customers. Practical value of this paper is, also, reflected in encouraging domestic organizations to innovate and position themself more favourable while building widely recognizable brand. While accepting the fact that customers are at the center of attention and that they should not be approached with an "one size fits all" attitude, because different segments of customers have different expectations and different perceptions of values.