July 2025
Written by
Abbie Mason
E-commerce
Marketing strategy
Product launch
Tech
Crossing the Chasm
When Great Ideas Stall, and How to Push Them Further. Every marketer knows the feeling. You’ve launched. The product’s good. The early feedback is glowing. But then… nothing.
Sales plateau. Social chatter dries up.
The early buzz doesn’t translate into consistent traction.
It’s not that people don’t like it — it’s that the right people haven’t bought in yet. Welcome to the chasm
Coined by Geoffrey A. Moore in his 1991 business classic Crossing the Chasm, the term refers to a deep and dangerous gap in every product lifecycle — the space between the early adopters who are excited by newness, and the mainstream majority who are more cautious, risk-averse, and slow to trust. And it’s where most brands — especially in tech, innovation and consumer goods — fall apart.
“The point of greatest peril is making the transition from an early market dominated by a few visionary customers to a mainstream market dominated by a large block of customers who are predominantly pragmatist.”
— Geoffrey A. Moore, Crossing the Chasm (via GetStoryShots)
More than 30 years on, the framework is still a blueprint for building brands that last. And in 2025, it’s just as relevant — if not more so — for e-commerce, DTC and digital-first companies trying to go from hype to habit.
What is the chasm, really?
Moore’s model builds on Everett Rogers’ Technology Adoption Curve — innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards. But Moore’s insight is that there’s a discontinuity between the early adopters and the early majority. What excites early users (disruption, novelty, change) puts the mainstream off.
So while your earliest customers might shout about your brand on TikTok or love that you’re shaking up the category, the broader market is waiting. Watching. Hesitating. Unless you adapt, they stay on the sidelines.
Why it matters more than ever — especially in e-commerce
Today’s product launches happen faster. Drops go viral. Micro-trends explode. New categories emerge overnight. But the psychology of trust — and risk — hasn’t changed. In fact, the faster the hype cycle, the deeper the chasm.
For e-commerce and DTC brands, this gap often shows up as:
High acquisition costs but low retention
Viral awareness with no repeat purchase
Strong creative but weak brand trust
As Wired Magazine put it: Crossing the chasm is no longer just a B2B tech problem. It’s now an everyday issue for anyone building anything that dares to be new.
Focus beats visibility
One of Moore’s most cited ideas is the beachhead strategy — don’t try to win everyone. Win one specific audience segment first, and build from there. It’s borrowed from military strategy: take one beach, then expand inland.
As David Fallarme explains, the key is choosing a segment with pain, urgency, and influence. Once you win that audience, you can leverage their credibility to knock down adjacent markets.
This focus-first approach is how Airbnb started with designers attending a single conference, how Slack targeted internal tech teams, and how dozens of e-com brands quietly win with niche targeting long before they hit scale.
The whole product is more than your product
One of Moore’s most actionable insights is the idea of the “whole product”. Early adopters forgive rough edges. The mainstream doesn’t.
To cross the chasm, you need to offer not just the thing — but the experience: onboarding, customer service, integrations, reviews, trustmarks, and consistent messaging across every touchpoint.
“The early majority needs much more than just your product. They need a complete solution.”
— YouExec Summary
In the world of e-commerce, this includes how your site looks, how your shipping works, how your returns feel, and what happens after the sale. Confidence sells more than creativity.
Premium pricing builds trust
One of Moore’s most counterintuitive insights is about pricing. While many new brands try to undercut their competitors to grow quickly, Moore advocates for premium pricing.
Why? Because pragmatists interpret price as a proxy for trust. If you’re cheaper, you’re riskier. If you’re more expensive — and well-positioned — you’re a safer, more credible bet. This is especially true in high-stakes categories like wellness, skincare, or food.
“You must commit to being the leader in your niche—before you earn the right to expand.”
— Sobrief Summary
Clear positioning wins the long game
Moore also offers a deceptively simple positioning framework — one we still use with brands today. It looks like this:
For [target customer],
Who [has this need],
Our product is a [category],
That [delivers this key benefit].
Getting this statement right is the foundation of crossing the chasm. It forces clarity. It avoids fluff. And it gives the whole team — from ads to CX — a clear narrative to communicate repeatedly and consistently.
As HowDo puts it, most brands fail not because of bad positioning, but because of vague positioning. You can’t be everything to everyone and cross the chasm at the same time.
Don’t just launch. Land.
Crossing the chasm is about more than a great product. It’s about narrowing your focus, tightening your positioning, and building the infrastructure that makes mainstream customers feel safe choosing you.
For modern e-com and digital-first brands, it’s not just a nice idea — it’s a growth playbook. A way to move from hype to habit. From a moment to a business.
“The chasm is not the end. It is only the beginning of mainstream market development.”
— Geoffrey A. Moore
Ready to build your bridge?
At Lala Comms, we help early-stage and scaling brands define their positioning, find their beachhead, and build the kind of end-to-end experience that crosses the chasm — and keeps going.