Gomi's clever hack for testing products without making them

Gomi's approach to testing the market is innovative. As a technology products business, it can't afford to make costly mistakes when it's developing expensive consumables. So, it needs to know if there's genuine consumer demand.

That's why the London and Brighton-based business has pioneered an innovative solution using what co-founder Rishi Gupta, 28, calls "fake door testing". This method allows the team to gauge customers' appetite before committing significant resources to manufacturing.

The process involves creating detailed product renders and marketing materials for "non-existent" products, then launching them as paid advertisements on Meta with full landing pages, pricing and the ability to purchase.

Rishi says:

"When you're a physical product brand, it's very difficult to know whether or not somebody's going to want to buy a product, because developing the product takes many months. It takes a lot of resources, a lot of time and a lot of money.

"We launch a product as a paid ad online on Meta. There'll be a whole landing page and a product listing just as if it exists, with pricing. You'll be able to purchase it as well."

The ads run for around a week, with budgets measured against  baseline performance from existing products.

How the testing works

The testing evaluates three key factors:

1. Profitability at the proposed price point

2. Market appetite

3. Potential consumer concerns

When customers buy these non-existent products, they receive an email after a day or two explaining the product isn't yet available, along with a refund and discount voucher.

Gomi then interviews certain customers to understand their motivations for buying and their intended use for the product.

Rishi explains how this kind of qualitative feedback refines the business's understanding of consumer needs:

"We use the interviews to help us understand what the customers actually intended to use it for – like when they're walking their dog, for example. Then we would add that description within the product page."

But it hasn't all been straightforward.

"Funny story – none of the products I picked actually came out on top after approximately 59 tests. I'm glad we did the testing!"

How Gomi started

Rishi co-founded the sustainable electronics company with Zero Waste Club founder team Pawan Saunya and Kyle Brackenfield. The trio later joined forces with University of Brighton design alumni Tom Meades in 2018.

Gomi creates sustainable power banks and portable speakers crafted from recycled plastic bags and repurposed e-bike batteries, handmade in Brighton.

Rishi emphasises the importance of actual transactions over traditional validation methods:

"When it comes to transactions, them giving you the money – that's like marriage in my opinion. It's a big step, right? Whereas being on a waiting list, showing interest is very different."

The fake door testing has helped Gomi successfully launch products, including speakers with a 32-hour battery life and power banks, all maintaining its commitment to sustainability.

Every Gomi speaker is made from the equivalent of 44 plastic bags, while the power banks' durable outer shell is created out of flexible plastics like bubble wrap and food packaging.

This means the company is repurposing some of the 300 million kilograms of plastic that people in the UK throw away every year.

Future growth

Looking ahead, Rishi says Gomi is entering a growth phase, with three new products at price parity with market alternatives:

"We're at a point where the new products we're developing, which is the phone case, the wireless charge and AirTag, they're at price parity. So, at this point when we launch, those three products are where we will see a lot of our growth."

The company operates from a studio in Brighton's The Lanes, chosen strategically for talent access.

"Brighton works well because the universities are very helpful. There's a lot of creative individuals who come out of the universities, which is integral to the business due to our design focus."

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