From the perspective of economics, complementary products are two products that are often linked together. The two products must cooperate with each other to meet the same needs of consumers. Usually, there is a relationship between complementary products. The following is a dialysis of the concept and strategy of complementary products that I sorted out for you, hoping to help.

In today's increasingly fierce competition in the world, complementary competition strategy can bring unique competitive advantages to enterprises and bring convenience to their survival and development. Moreover, fierce competition forces more and more enterprises to look at the future from the perspective of competition and cooperation. Complementary product strategy, a typical win-win strategy, makes enterprises willing to work together to open up more territory. However, the competitive strategy of complementary products is also extremely complicated, which plays different roles in different industrial periods and different industrial structures. Enterprises must carefully analyze the important complementary products of their products and effectively use the complementary product strategy to achieve their strategic goals. In short, complementary strategies require skill and art.

First, the concept of complementary products.

The concept of complementary products involves many disciplines, including microeconomics, industrial economics, marketing and strategic management. So far, no one has elaborated and defined the concept of complementary products in detail. First of all, of course, each discipline has different emphasis on the understanding of complementary products. In addition, in different industrial structures, different industrial cycles and even different angles, the complementary products of the main enterprises are different and constantly changing. Therefore, the research on complementary product strategy in different academic circles is quite limited and scattered at present.

From the perspective of economics, complementary products are two products that are often linked together. The two products must cooperate with each other to meet the same needs of consumers. Usually, there is a relationship between complementary products. As long as the supply of a product is increased or the price of a product is reduced, people's demand for another product will rise. Such as cars and gasoline, cameras and films.

From the marketing point of view, it is very valuable for the pricing of supporting products. The most typical pricing strategy of complementary products is to set the main parts at low prices, which greatly increases the competitiveness of products; Defining high price for sub-parts can make up for the loss of profit caused by low price of main parts, and make the whole product portfolio get greater economic benefits. For example, Dr. Leigh Lomb's contact lenses in the United States. In the complementary pricing strategy, there is also a kind of terry. Enterprises pretend to attack under the cover of the main part, but their fist products are actually secondary parts. Once the main parts drive the secondary parts, profits will naturally roll in. The most famous example here is of course Kodak film. The pricing strategies of complementary products are far more than these two. This is just to show that from the marketing point of view, enterprises use reasonable complementary pricing strategies to open up markets and increase market share.

From a strategic point of view, complementary products not only involve the breadth of competition scope of enterprises, but also involve how enterprises compete in specific industries. Most industries are influenced by complementary products to some extent, and the strategies of complementary products also affect the competitive pattern of these industries.

To sum up, the concept of complementary products comes from economics and is used in enterprise management. Enterprises form their own competitive advantages through complementary strategies, which are often cross-industry. The pricing of complementary products can be regarded as an important strategic practice of complementary products. The focus of this paper is to discuss the competitive advantage brought by complementary strategy. Including the competitive relationship between complementary products and complementary product producers, the important practice of complementary product strategy, etc.

Different angles have different classifications of complementary products:

There is a division method in economics, which is divided into complementary products in production and complementary products in consumption. Complementarity in production means that when producing a certain kind of armor, it will inevitably? Synchronous production? For example, when beef is produced by cattle, cowhide is produced together, so beef and cowhide are complementary products in production; Chicken wings are produced together with chicken legs, so chicken wings and chicken legs are complementary products in production: soybean milk is squeezed and bean dregs are used to make bean cakes, so soybean milk and bean cakes are complementary products in production.

Complementarity in consumption means that when consuming, the two products must be? Consumption at the same time? , cooperate with each other, can play a role, so it is a supplement; For example: mechanical pencil and pencils, contact lenses and contact lens care solutions, cameras and films, frames and lenses, cars and gasoline, cds and CD players. Although the functions of the two products are different, they are indispensable when they are used. In this paper, complementary products refer to the complementary products in the latter's consumption.

1996, Brandenburg &; Nalebuff put forward the concept of value network, and proposed that complementary products include complementary products/services purchased by customers and complementary resources supplied by manufacturers. On the demand side, complementary products increase the spontaneity of customers to buy products; On the supply side, complementary products reduce the price requirements of suppliers.

Second, the theoretical summary of complementary strategy

1, porter's complementary strategy

In 1985, Porter published the famous "Competitive Advantage", which elaborated his views on complementary strategy in detail. He put forward three important strategic practices in industries with important complementary products:

Control complementary products, that is, provide a complete series of complementary products instead of letting others provide some complementary products (? We sell both of them? )

Bundle sales, that is, a group of different types but complementary products are bundled together and sold at a single price. (? Do we only sell two kinds at the same time? )

Cross-subsidy, that is, consciously selling a product to promote the sales of its complementary products (? We sell A to promote B? )

He believes that enterprises must first decide whether to provide complementary products by themselves or partial complementary products by external suppliers. This is a question involving the scope of competition. After solving this problem, enterprises should decide how to compete in complementary products. Enterprises with important complementary products must choose among the above three strategies. Porter also explained in detail under what circumstances enterprises can gain competitive advantage by controlling complementary products, bundling or cross-subsidizing, and explained in detail the risks in practice. He also explained how enterprises' strategies on complementary products should change accordingly when the industry changes, and the common strategic mistakes some enterprises encounter when implementing these three strategies.

2 andrew groff's six-force analysis model

The concept of Six Forces Analysis is Andy, former president of Intel? Grove), in 1986, based on porter's five forces analysis framework, re-explored and defined the six major influences of industrial competition. He believes that the factors that affect the competitive situation of the industry are: the influence, vitality and ability of existing competitors; The influence, vitality and ability of suppliers; Customer's influence, vitality and ability; The influence, vitality and ability of potential competitors; Alternative ways of products or services; The strength of cooperative industries. Cooperatives here refer to producers of complementary products.

This influence is Andy? Grove's sixth strength comes from Porter's five strength analysis. In his view, a cooperative enterprise refers to other enterprises that have mutual support and complementary relations with their own enterprises. In a complementary relationship, the products of this company cooperate with those of another company. And better use effect can be obtained. The interests of partners are usually the same, which can also be called channel partners. Their products support each other and share the same interests. However, the emergence of any new technology, new method and new process may change the "balanced * * *" relationship between cooperative operators and make channel partners become strangers from now on.

3 Brandenburg & Nalebov's Value Network

1996, Brandenburg &; Nalebov put forward the concept of value net, and believed that the factors that affect the profit of manufacturers mainly come from five sources: manufacturers themselves, competitors (existing competitors, new entrants and substitutes), customers, suppliers and complementary products. Among the five influencing factors, they especially emphasize that complementary products play a key role in the success or failure of enterprises. Complementarity is a common feature in many business plans. Especially when enterprises are developing new business models or integrating different industries to establish * * * communication standards. The role of complementary products is particularly important.

The biggest advantage of complementary products in the industrial analysis framework is that under a fixed market scale, general competition is killed. And complementary products are more likely to increase the market scale in addition to competing under the inherent market scale. From this perspective, think about how to develop new complementary products or make existing complementary products more popular. It will be particularly important to expand the market scale. Generally speaking, the factors that affect the added value of complementary products are as follows:

Industrial concentration, switching costs, the difficulty of using complementary products alone, the role of driving supply and demand, the threat of asymmetric integration, and the growth rate of the total market size.

4 Huang Taihe's Eight-Force Model

200 1 Huang Taihe pointed out that there are eight main competitive forces that affect the profitability of manufacturers, namely: the competitiveness of manufacturers, the competitiveness of peers, the resistance of old peers, the resistance of new peers, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the help of complementary products and the competitiveness of substitutes. He believes that complementary products mainly refer to two or more products of the same consumer. Its use effect must be coordinated with each other to produce. Therefore, complementary products are of great value to the profits of manufacturers, and the following scenario complementary products are of great help:

The value of complementary products is greater than the value of products.

The production and sales of complementary products are very large.

There are many suppliers of complementary products.

There are many manufacturers that adopt relevant specifications and protocols.

The scope of relevant specifications and agreements is wide, and relevant products are complete.

Buyers have a strong preference for complete products.

There are many complementary products.

The adopted conversion cost is low.

It is of great benefit to the learning and experience of complementary products.

Six-force interaction model of Wu Baohua

In 2005, Xiang put forward a six-force interaction model based on five forces model. The interaction model of six forces emphasizes the interaction and interdependence of market forces, and does not assert competition or cooperation in advance. This is mainly based on the consideration that there is a subtle relationship between enterprises and related market entities, which has both competition and cooperation in practical operation. Generally speaking, it is easy to find a variety of cooperation possibilities by using the six-force interaction model to examine the relationship between enterprises and complementary manufacturers, because the cooperation between them can usually better meet the needs of both parties and buyers. For many enterprises, as a strategic consideration, complementary suppliers can be chosen as partners in market development and channel construction. Of course, it is sometimes difficult to accurately determine whether there is a complementary effect or a substitution effect between various products or services, and which of these two effects is more significant. Also, enterprises and complementary manufacturers have long-term cooperative relations? Making pies? The possibility of cooperation does not rule out that everyone wants to exist in the short term? Divide the cake more? Competitive conflict.

Generally speaking, since grove put forward complementary force as the sixth force, different scholars have analyzed complementary products from different angles. Grove believes that the partnership of complementary products is very helpful to the competitive advantage of enterprises and can be used as a powerful force for industrial analysis; Brandenburg & Nalebov thinks that complementary products are very important to expand the market scale, and puts forward the factors that affect the added value of complementary products; Huang Taihe thinks that complementary products can improve the profits of manufacturers, and points out that complementary products help more; Xiang believes that the main enterprises and related market themes are both cooperative and competitive, and complementary products are more cooperative. If enterprises cut into complementary products, they will have unique behaviors to win competitive advantage.

In contrast, Porter's supplementary strategy is more detailed and convincing. However, we can find that Porter's complementary strategy is lacking. First of all, in the division of three important strategies, these three strategic practices should be parallel and at the same level. But obviously, controlling complementary products is different from the other two strategies. The strategy of controlling complementary products focuses on the suppliers of complementary products, while the latter two focus on the sales strategy of complementary products. Besides. These three strategic practices cannot cover all complementary strategies. Secondly. Porter is more based on the competitive advantage of enterprises in the same industry, and only emphasizes the competition between the main enterprises and competitors. Therefore, he ignored the relationship between the main enterprise and the producer of supplementary products. The relationship between them is not only to make the cake bigger, but also to divide it.

Therefore, based on the focus of previous research literature and the shortcomings in the research. We put forward a complementary competition strategy, which takes into account the main enterprise and complementary producers, the main enterprise and competitors.

Third, the competitive advantage of complementary strategy

1 model proposal

Co-opetition has become the normal state of industrial development, competing with each other in the same field. However, cooperation in order to open up new markets or uniting small enemies with big enemies are all manifestations of this relationship. When formulating complementary strategies. We need to pay attention to two relationships: one is the relationship between the main enterprise and its competitors, which is also expounded by Porter in Competitive Advantage. It focuses on how to set prices and how to use complementary products to increase market share or increase profits; Another relationship is the competitive relationship between the main enterprise and the producers of complementary products, especially the competitive relationship. How many of the supporting products of enterprise products are produced by themselves? Do you need other manufacturers to provide it?

Based on the above theory, the author divides complementary strategies into four common categories:

1) The supporting products are produced by ourselves and are only for their own sales.

2) The supporting products are produced by themselves and sold by others.

3) The supporting products are produced by others and only sold by themselves.

4) Complementary products are produced by others and sold by others.

It can be seen that this division not only considers the relationship between enterprises producing main products and enterprises producing supplementary products, but also considers the relationship between enterprises producing main products and competitors.

1) The supporting products are produced by ourselves and are only for their own sales.

When the relationship between the main product and the complementary product is close, the complementary product has a great influence on the quality level of the main product, and it will also bring completely different cognitive feelings to customers, and enterprises tend to produce and sell complementary products themselves. For example, the life cycle of some electrical appliances industries, product sales and maintenance can be regarded as a complementary relationship. Such a complementary strategy can improve the quality of complementary combination and make them work together seamlessly. Because when providing their own complementary products, enterprises are more aware of their own requirements for complementary products, less considering the specificity of assets, and committed to the best combination of complementary products. Moreover, this practice also reduces the transaction cost between enterprises and complementary suppliers.

In addition, such a strategy can reduce the risk of differentiated operation and reduce the possibility of process or technology leakage. If the sales and maintenance of electrical appliances are taken as an example, the production of supporting products is likely to involve production technology and technology. If this part is provided by other enterprises, the technology of the main product will inevitably be leaked. Moreover, even if this problem does not exist, if the complementary suppliers master the unique technology and process, the enterprise will be in danger of being locked in. Therefore, enterprises in the early stage of industrial life cycle had better provide important supplementary products by themselves.

2) The supporting products are produced by themselves and sold by others.

This strategy is generally adopted when the complementary products provided by the enterprise itself have unique advantages. For example, Toshiba's optical drive is not only a supporting product of its own brand notebook, but also a supporting product of competitors like ibm. If enterprises pay attention to the production of both main products and supplementary products at the beginning of the industrial life cycle. After a period of exploration.

Enterprises may have unique advantages in complementary product quality or production cost. Therefore, in the mature period of industrial life cycle, the complementary products of enterprises will become the complementary products of other enterprises for bundled sales. It's like the Toshiba CD-ROM installed on an ibm laptop. First of all, such a strategy will enhance the image of the company's main products, and consumers will tend to the company's main products after using the added value obtained by complementary products. Moreover, this can also be used as a unique advantage of enterprise product portfolio, which can make a profit in the sales of complementary products. When choosing this strategy, enterprises should pay attention not to ignore the quality and cost of the main products, and it is best to rely on the advantages of complementary products to greatly enhance the sales volume and image of the main products in the eyes of consumers.

3) The supporting products are produced by others and only sold by themselves.

In the mature period of industrial life cycle, if an enterprise can't have a unique advantage in complementary products, it often chooses another strategy to provide complementary products by other enterprises. This situation often happens when an enterprise's profit on a complementary product is getting less and less, and the enterprise is willing to transfer this part of complementary products to other enterprises for production. The typical case here is Apple and its partners.

We can see that few enterprises choose this strategy because it has very high requirements for enterprises. An enterprise must have a good reputation and a unique and stable market position, and its products are very different from other products. This strategy often lies in the fact that enterprises can't take care of many complementary products, so they transfer this value to other enterprises. Of course, in this case, the enterprise providing supplementary products is very dependent on the main enterprise because its demand comes from the demand of the main enterprise. Enterprises that choose this strategy need to have a good mechanism to control the enterprises that provide supplementary products, so that the main products can be updated and the supplementary products can maintain a certain vitality. In any case, the details determine success or failure.

4) Complementary products are produced by others and sold by others.

With the maturity of the industry and the establishment of various standards, the problem of interface compatibility is becoming easier and easier to solve. As a result, qualified suppliers appeared, and they began to provide various supporting products needed by enterprises. This is also a common supplementary form at present. Enterprises that choose this strategy can concentrate on producing core products and only need to buy needed supplements from suppliers.

Suppliers can often provide complementary products with good quality and low price. When producers of complementary products (other enterprises) gather strength with those complementary products that need to be produced, they can often obtain low-cost or differentiated products. KFC and Pepsi are good examples. KFC gave some drinks to Pepsi to increase the value of its product portfolio. In industries with powerful and capable consumers, this trend has intensified over time. Rational consumers tend to buy the product portfolio that can bring them the greatest value, which forces enterprises to focus on their core products and transfer some complementary products to other professional manufacturers.

References:

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