Cannibalisaatioriskit

Cannibalisaatioriskit, known in English as cannibalisation risk, is the potential that a company's new product, service, or upgrade will draw sales away from its existing offerings rather than expanding overall demand. It is a key consideration in portfolio strategy, product launches, pricing, and branding, because internal competition among products can reduce total revenue and margins. In Finnish business discourse the term cannibalisaatioriskit is used to describe this phenomenon.

Causes and dynamics include overlapping customer segments, similar features or prices across products, shared distribution channels, and aggressive launch timing. The risk increases when a new item targets customers who would have bought an existing product, or when marketing budgets shift spending toward the new product at the expense of older lines.

Measuring cannibalisation risk involves estimating the share of new product sales that would have occurred for the old product, modeling revenue and margin impact, and monitoring sales mix after launch. Common methods include historical data analysis, controlled pilots, and scenario planning using cross-elasticities and portfolio-level profitability.

Mitigation strategies focus on clarifying value propositions, differentiating features, or pricing to appeal to distinct segments; staggered rollouts; phasing out or sunsetting older products; bundling or channel-specific strategies; and governance processes that require portfolio-level approval before launches. Effective management aligns the product strategy with overall profitability targets and brand positioning.