Beyond focus groups: Real customer behavior early launch insights

Reimagining Product Launch: Measuring Buying Behavior

The Need for Behavioral Insight

Traditional product research relies heavily on opinions. Prelaunch flips the model by recording actual buying behavior before the official launch, turning intention into insight and failure into foresight.

The Trust Gap Revealed

• Only 31% of CMOs believe their CEOs trust marketing to predict demand (McKinsey, 2025).
• The statistic underscores that gut checks are no longer adequate.
• Observing customer actions offers over 3× more value than listening to what they claim.

Flawed Assumption: “What People Say” Predicts “What People Do”

Product validation has long rested on the erroneous assumption that asking people about their opinions will accurately forecast their future behavior. Despite this, focus groups, surveys, and early access panels remain the preferred tools, even as product failure rates continue to climb.

Risk Versus Insight: The Cost of Opinion‑Based Go‑to‑Market Strategy

If your go‑to‑market strategy still depends on opinions rather than measurable behavior, you’re working with more risk than insight. Adopting behavior measurement can dramatically reduce uncertainty and improve product launch success.

The high cost of misleading signals

Product Launch Delays Are Almost the Norm

According to a Gartner survey in 2019, 45 % of new products experience a delay of at least a month. The main culprit? Teams misinterpret customers because they rely on opinion instead of real behavior.

Why “Polite Feedback” is Just Noise

• Focus groups paid for opinions deliver insights that rarely translate to market behavior.
• What managers often read as “interest” is simply courtesy, not a real demand.
• Teams end up chasing noise and waste both time and resources.

Data You Can Trust

To move from speculation to decision‑making, businesses need action‑based data. Real‑world actions provide the evidence that can keep product launches on schedule and momentum intact.

A shift toward behavioral validation

Intent‑Based Testing: The Real Deal Behind Buying Intent

What It Is, and Why It Matters

Instead of asking customers how much they’d pay, this method asks them to reserve a product with a refundable deposit. In doing so, it records genuine buying intent, revealing what people will actually purchase rather than what they promise.

Primary Advantages

• Authentic Behavior Tracking – Customers act, not say.
• Early, Data‑Driven Decision Support – Reserved deposits supply real market signals before manufacturing.
• Versatile Application – Works across consumer tech, mobility, and crowdfunding.

Industries that Have Benefited

From consumer electronics startups and mobility ventures to Kickstarter hits like GoChess, this testing model has proven profit‑enhancing.

Recent Major‑Brand Collaborations

Prelaunch is now partnering with brands such as Ducati, P&G, Philips, and 3M to replicate product pages and checkout experiences before any physical units are produced.

Case Study Highlight

In one mobility client, testing revealed that users were willing to pay far beyond initial estimates. By adjusting pricing prior to production, the launch became profitable from the first day.

A smarter way to understand customers

Beyond Deposits: Prelaunch Uncovers What Drives Customer Decisions

Prelaunch isn’t limited to tracking deposits. It monitors over 35 behavioral signals for each visitor, from scroll patterns to pricing clicks and page‑time. These insights pinpoint the factors that matter most to buyers and illuminate the drivers behind their choices.

Deepening Insight with AI‑Powered Surveys

• After a deposit, Prelaunch invites users to continue the conversation on WhatsApp.
• If users consent, an AI chatbot engages them in real‑time, asking questions and analyzing responses through natural dialogue.
• This creates a scalable, human‑like research experience that far exceeds traditional form‑based surveys.

Business Impact: Survival vs. Shutdown

For many owners, this approach determines whether a company thrives or folds. As Cody Soodeen, founder of Kara Water (named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022), explains, “If Kara Water had not used Prelaunch and managed product expectations during our early development and beta phase, we’d be out of business.”

Safe testing for big ideas

Safeguarding Innovation with Prelaunch

Public testing frequently exposes proprietary assets. Prelaunch counters this risk by offering closed‑testing environments, white‑labeled resources, and private campaigns, allowing firms to experiment subtly while capturing insights from thousands of genuine prospects.

Enterprise‑Focused Concierge

• Campaign Setup – From creative development to launch logistics.
• Data Analytics – Real‑time performance dashboards.
• Reporting – Comprehensive summaries for stakeholder review.

These services liberate internal teams, enabling them to concentrate on strategic direction instead of operational details. Internal metrics indicate that Prelaunch’s predictive algorithms accurately forecast product success 86% of the time.

Behavior beats opinions

Conversion and Behavior Analysis

On Prelaunch, 60 % to 70 % of shoppers who deposit a pre‑purchase amount complete a final buy. These numbers come straight from recorded actions, not from speculative focus‑group talk.

Why Direct Data Wins

• Speed and Accuracy dominate today’s buying markets.
• Random guessing can’t keep pace with the real‑time signals you can capture.
• Customer behavior is the most sincere cue you can obtain; Prelaunch flags it for you.

Actionable Listening

Platforms such as Prelaunch empower businesses to listen to these honest signals, turning raw data into decisive market moves.

Frequently asked questions

What does Prelaunch cost?

Understanding Campaign Pricing

Campaign costs shift across the service spectrum.

Service Level Options

• Self‑serve begins at a few hundred dollars.
• Enterprise concierge is quoted based on scope.

Is my product idea protected?

Secure & Confidential Campaign Management

Key Features

• Private Execution – All campaigns run behind a secure, NDA‑protected environment.
• White‑Label Assets – Custom branding assets delivered without public exposure.
• Controlled Access – User invitations only, ensuring limited, confidential participation.

Optional Public Exposure

You retain complete control. If you decide to share insights publicly, it’s an intentional choice; otherwise everything stays out of the public eye.

Implementation Highlights

• Secure, NDA‑enforced user access.
• White‑label branding assets.
• No public campaign exposure unless selected.

What’s the average conversion rate?

Customer Conversion After Deposit

Between 60% and 70% of clients who place a deposit ultimately finalize their purchase once the launch begins.

Do I need a prototype to use Prelaunch?

No. Prelaunch Empowers AI-Driven Idea Validation

Prelaunch harnesses advanced AI, allowing teams to examine product‑market fit using only a concept.

Key Benefits

• Rapid Insight – Test ideas instantly, cutting early development cycles.
• Smart Fit – AI surfaces market signals, pinpointing potential opportunities.
• Concept‑First – Validate concepts before building, reducing risk and cost.

How It Works

Enter a bare concept, and Prelaunch’s AI algorithms analyze market data, user trends, and competitive landscapes to generate a comprehensive fit report.

Take Action

Leverage Prelaunch to validate concepts swiftly, and accelerate product launches with confidence.