Change How They Choose, Then Lock Them In

Existing players in the market compete on product performance.

But customers don't just buy a product.
They buy a less hassle-free experience, a more trustworthy one, one that saves time, feels familiar, and feels good.

Even with the same bottled water, there are customers who open their wallets for a higher price if it's delivered regularly to their doorstep—they're paying for 'not having to carry it'. The reason people buy used phones from certified secondhand malls instead of private transactions is 'the peace of mind that they won't get scammed'.

In a red ocean market, 'opportunity' doesn't come from the product itself. It comes from redesigning this very part 'better' in a new way.

Let's find opportunities with the questions below.

Where do customers feel most inconvenienced even as they spend money?
Casper Sleep turned the hassle of visiting stores and large shipments into 'a mattress compressed in a box and a 100-day free trial'.

Why are people who still don't buy staying outside the market?
Canva added an easy editor and templates to a design tool that was exclusive to professionals, removing the learning barrier for non-professionals.

What price, distribution, and usage methods does the industry take for granted?
Dollar Shave Club changed the habit of buying expensive razors at stores into online direct-to-consumer subscriptions.

Are there unused spaces, time, inventory, or data?
Airbnb connected empty rooms and homes to accommodation supply.

Can't you bundle something into one thing that customers still solve by combining multiple tools?
Notion combined documents, wikis, databases, and project management into one workspace.

Doesn't a nationwide service become stronger when narrowed to a specific region, industry, or situation?
Karrot Market narrowed used goods trading to the 'neighborhood' level, raising both trust and convenience at once.

And there's one last question you have to ask.

If competitors copy this approach exactly, what's left for us?
Casper and Dollar Shave Club had entry methods that were easy to replicate, so they couldn't hold onto their initial momentum for long. In contrast, Airbnb and Karrot Market built structures that grow stronger as more users gather, so they kept surviving.

There's no need to change the existing market.
You just need to change the criteria customers use to choose.

A new standard is like opening a new path for customers.
But anyone can walk a path that's been opened.
So after opening the path, you have to make customers want to stay on that path.
Just as more neighbors gathering on Karrot Market makes neighborhood transactions more trustworthy, and as more records pile up in Notion, it becomes harder to switch to other tools.

Changing the criteria of choice is where you start. Making that criteria stay on your side is where you finish.