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Physical Product Launch

Physical Product Launch

Launch plan optimized for tangible consumer products

Product Launch

Template Items (24)

  • Finalize product design and specifications

    +1 day after start

    #1

  • Complete product safety testing

    +3 days after start

    #2

  • Design product packaging

    +7 days after start

    #3

  • Develop manufacturing timeline

    +10 days after start

    #4

  • Establish quality control processes

    +14 days after start

    #5

  • Create inventory management system

    +21 days after start

    #6

  • Set up warehousing and logistics

    +28 days after start

    #7

  • Develop distribution strategy

    +35 days after start

    #8

  • Create retailer onboarding materials

    +42 days after start

    #9

  • Establish wholesale pricing and policies

    +49 days after start

    #10

  • Design in-store product displays

    +56 days after start

    #11

  • Create product photography for marketing

    +63 days after start

    #12

  • Develop e-commerce product listings

    +70 days after start

    #13

  • Create product unboxing experience

    +75 days after start

    #14

  • Prepare customer service for product inquiries

    +79 days after start

    #15

  • Develop warranty and return policies

    +82 days after start

    #16

  • Conduct pre-production product testing

    +85 days after start

    #17

  • Begin initial production run

    +87 days after start

    #18

  • Ship pre-orders to customers

    +89 days after start

    #19

  • LAUNCH DAY: Ship to retailers

    +90 days after start

    #20

  • Conduct in-store product demonstrations

    +97 days after start

    #21

  • Send product samples to reviewers

    +104 days after start

    #22

  • Track inventory levels and reorder as needed

    +111 days after start

    #23

  • Analyze sales data by channel

    +120 days after start

    #24

Using this template will create a new list with all the items shown above. You can rename the list, and optionally add due dates counted from a start date you choose.

For products that ship in a box

24 tasks covering the parts of a launch that only exist when the product is physical: manufacturing lead times, sampling, packaging, inventory, fulfilment, retail and marketplace listings, and returns. Software launches can iterate after release. This one can't — a mistake in a production run is a mistake in every unit.

Lead times drive everything

Turn on due dates. Manufacturing and shipping have fixed durations you cannot compress with effort, and the whole plan hangs off them. Order your start date backwards from the shelf date, adding real slack for the two things that reliably run late: sample revisions and customs.

The sampling tasks are where to be slow and fussy. Approving a sample is the last cheap moment to change anything. After that, a packaging error means either eating the run or shipping something you're not happy with.

Inventory is a forecast, and forecasts are wrong

Order too much and you've tied up cash in a warehouse. Order too little and you sell out during the only week anyone is paying attention. Neither is recoverable quickly, so the useful move is deciding in advance which mistake you'd rather make, and telling your supplier now what a reorder would take.

Don't leave returns until you have some

The returns and customer service tasks sit late in the list but should be answered early, because the answers affect your packaging, your listing copy, and your margins. Work out who pays return shipping and what condition you'll accept before the first one arrives, not after.

For the marketing side, pair this with the Product Marketing Launch Plan.

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