Should you copy your competitor's features?
A framework for deciding when and how to copy a product feature
A product manager’s primary role is to identify product features that will create customer success and lead to business impact.
In this journey, you will come across competitor products which serve the same market as you are. They will always have some features that you don’t have. It seems tempting to copy those features in your product and get a better shot at improving your market share.
When it comes to copying, the best example I can think of is YouTube shorts — which was inspired from TikTok and Instagram reels.
Yet, there are many would scoff at the idea of copying features from another product.
It goes against the established principles of creativity and originality.
There are so many examples of copycat products that failed — Amazon’s fire phone, Microsoft’s Zune and HP’s attempt to copy the Apple Ipad.
So, what do you do — Do you copy your competitor’s features or not?
This is a tough question to answer.
But in my experience as a product manager, the ability to smartly copy other successful ideas is a super-power indeed.
Of course, I have looked at things from the limited scope of copying product features and capabilities.
Based on my experiences, here’s what I have learned.
Arguments against copying competitor features?
For a moment, let’s play the devil’s advocate and see why copying the feature might be a bad idea.
It kills creativity and original thinking in the team
It prevents the team from coming with a better solution to the user problem
It could lead you down the path of becoming a feature factory —as there will always be a feature which the competitor has but you don’t.
You might make a wrong judgement call — The competitor might be thinking of sun-setting the feature which you are thinking of copying.
Despite all the above, in today’s fast paced business environment you can’t simply ignore what your competitor has built.
How smartly copying competition could be a super-power
If done correctly, copying a competitor feature will help you in the following ways:
1. Saves time
You don’t want to re-invent the wheel for a problem that’s been solved long ago. This is critical if the feature is not a differentiator for you but more of a table stakes.
2. Helps decide the scope of a feature
When deciding what the minimum viable product is to solve a customer problem, it is also worth considering how your competitors address the problem. This can save you time thinking of solutions — heap.io
For example, when I was building email customization capabilities in our product (Airmeet), I actively took inspiration from the email customization capabilities of webinar tools such as BigMarker, Zoom to decide the scope.
You must optimize for Time to Market and focus on learning by shipping.
3. Enables you to avoid being undercut by the competition
Your competition might be undercutting you by showing how their product is superior in comparison due to XYZ feature
This is usually achieved through the marketing and branding efforts of the competition where they try to play up their differentiation and convey it as a superiority of their offering when compared to other products in the market. — Source
*Note — The above does not necessarily mean you build the feature. You could also consider using marketing and branding to highlight what is superior about your product.
4. Allows you to focus on the things you are best at
As a product, you can’t be the best at every possible dimension. You need to find your key differentiators and race farther ahead from your competitors on that front. Not spending too much time on non-differentiating features helps free up resources to focus on the core product differentiators.
Framework for deciding on copying features
Here are the steps to to help you decide on copying competitor features:
Understand the underlying user problem which the feature is solving — A feature is a means to an end. It exists to solve a user need. When somebody tells you to copy XYZ feature from another product, don’t just jump the gun to say yes or no. Dig deeper and understand the user need being served.
If the feature does not solve a tangible user problem, don’t build it.
Ask yourself some basic questions before you say yes or no to building the feature
Is this a problem which our prospects/customers have been articulating?
How badly do our customers/prospects want the problem to be solved? Are they willing to leave our product in the absence of this feature?
Is this feature aligned with our product strategy?
How complex is it to build this feature?
Answers to these questions will help you take a call on whether to build it or not.
Scope out the MVP for the feature
If the feature is complex, you should not build the entire thing at once. Scope out the feature MVP that’s enough to solve the customers problem. Forego all bells and whistles.
The goal should be to get the feature out in the market and test the waters. Your customer responses will ultimately decide how much more you need to invest in the feature.
Conclusion
Being smart about copying a feature from competition can provide you multiple benefits — save time, scope out the MVP, prevent your competition from undercutting you and gives you space to focus on product differentiators.
But you should not copy features just because they look “cool” or “interesting” or “someone said so”.
Look at features as a means to an end. They are there to solve a user need. Only build a feature, if you are convinced about the user need and its relevant to your product.