The Toilet

Team 4 has chosen a product that everyone in this class uses every day. The product is so essential to our way of life that without it our lives would really stink. Our product is the toilet. We will tell you a brief history of life before the toilet.

Outhouses, chamber pots, and water closets were the discontinuous innovation with the invention of the flushing toilet. Royalty and the rich were the innovators to have a toilet in their castles or homes. Toilets were specialized for each person depending on what they wanted and could afford.

In 1596, Sir John Harrington invents a flushing toilet for Queen Elizabeth. At that time, there was no pricing strategy for the toilets. Toilets were improved and customized to the preference of the person who needed it such as silk ribbon seats. Toilets were mainly in castles until the government passed the first sanitation law in 1848, to keep the cities clean and sanitary.

The modern toilet evolved with the help of three men. These men brought about the dynamically continuous innovations, which increased the toilet’s marketability; they were Thomas Crapper, Thomas Twyford and George Jennings. George Jennings designed the “Siphoned” wash-down in the toilet bowl. Thomas Twyford was the first person to cover the toilet with porcelain. Thomas Crapper designed the pull-chain mechanism for the flushing toilet. Efficient usage of water brought about new inventions such as, “Crapper’s Valve-less Water Waste Preventer”. Each of these men had their own take or idea of what a toilet should be. This allowed for a very heterogeneous product.

The toilet is currently in the Market Maturity stage and there is a lot of competition among toilet manufacturers. These days it is all about water conservation. Research indicates that more than 25% of daily water use is flushing down the toilet. Toilets are available at almost all home improvement and hardware stores. The place strategy is less selective and toilet...