Why geeks buy bread makers or how trade in niche bio-goods is arranged
Business is a kind of constructor. Therefore, since we began to do the website builder for entrepreneurs, we began to collect stories about how small businesses use technology and the achievements of the Internet industry for their growth. Today we will tell how from the apartment business it was possible to collect what investors came for. Without ipio, but with bread makers:
Olga has been selling spices for eight years. At the beginning of her career, she suggested that the employer make a website and post online a price list for buyers. But she was not understood. Like, why expand the geography of sales and shine a point on these of your Internet, when buyers reached the tent 20 minutes from the Exhibition of Economic Achievements.
')
Then she decided to open her own business: with the Internet and spices.
The former employer - thanks to him - gave a couple of times to use a checking account, and then let her fill her own business cones. Having started up on a rake, Olga noticed the trend of “geeks and bread machines” and managed to expand the range so that she did not feel a drop in sales during this crisis.
It all started in a rented apartment: Olga borrowed money for the goods, asked a friend to make a website, and turned the room into a warehouse. And she started a “safe” - a tin box. All proceeds went to it. To penny.
That same box. Serves faithfully until now - but already in personal finances.
“The scheme was such - to buy for 50, to sell for 100, half of the amount to pay the supplier for the goods sold, for the second - to order a new one.”
At first, there were no couriers, and Olga herself went to the post office to send orders. Oil Painting - Small Business vs. turn for pensions, packages and stamps to buy. He says this: “If there was an old man standing behind me or a mother with a child, I, of course, missed them. And with the others - yes, it happened, quarreled, but not inferior. Still, when you are a small business, you need to show your teeth. ”
Olga eventually stopped telling people at the post office. When the trade went a little, I agreed with a small courier service.
The first rake was passed: outsourcing is always a painful choice for an offline entrepreneur. After all, spending that "that costs you nothing" - that is, spending time, at first seems logical. But having counted, Olga found out: the hour of her work as a “man-orchestra” cost at least 3,500 rubles. The courier for the same money worked with orders all day, freeing her for 2-3 hours.
Following Olga, her boyfriend and the cat exhaled: the warehouse store from the room moved to its first point of issue.
In the business of food and bulk goods have their own indicator goods (in marketing, KVI). For these products, people judge the general level of prices in the store. These same products are often bought. For a supermarket, for example, this is the standard set: jelly, meat, bread, fruit and vegetables.
As an example, this is a survey of 1600 buyers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, made by the Business Analytica project. Prices are second in priority after location. At the same time, people usually remember the prices of those basic goods.
Olga had an online store with delivery and a delivery point - i.e. the location receded into the background, and the next program number was pricing.
Seeing what else is in demand, Olga decided to expand the range and began selling malt - it is used in home baking to “tint” rye loaves.
The plan was this - having found an inexpensive indicator product (malt), people would also order the rest from her. So it happened. Here is only in the section “Yandex. Metrics” in the section “Bakery” an interesting picture was observed. If moms and vegetarians walked around the rest of the site, men from 30 years old were interested in breadmaking.
The same section about bread baking. White in the center is vanillin, if that.
It turned out that adult men are interested in the topic of baking seriously, geeky. The story on the cake became a cherry when one friend came to Olga, was long interested in “But how, and what are you selling, and how is it better / worse?” - and a week later he sent a link to a post about the store. It turned out to be a big blogger on the subject of home baking: almost all of his LJ is filled with pictures of bread in the context of:
Reduced (so that more examples) screen from the blog of the bread guru.
“This market — everything connected with eco, bio, DIY food and proper nutrition — is growing. Thanks to entering it, we did not see a decline in sales during the current crisis. And the spices in our history have become just an appendage, of course. ”
The next step after the expansion of DIY product categories was an attempt to drag farmers to themselves and make a real “mini-eco-market” out of the usual point of issue. First, it would give a new level and growth due to the popular topic of health.
Secondly, together with someone it is more fun to pay rent than to one.
By that time, the registration of the point had to be changed - and it was time to move to the area of ​​new buildings, 10 minutes from the Perovo metro station. New buildings promise to settle everything, but in a crisis, people do not really buy real estate. In general, farmers did not dare to become in an empty area, across the road from which there is a shopping center with chain stores and fast food.
But they sent their products. So in this story there are more compotes, honey, jams and pickles:
Since then, the point of issue has been called "bio-groceries".
Although the idea to make a “mini-eco-market” opposite the shopping center turned out to be a failure , Olga is not discouraged. Yes, you have to pay for the premises alone. But she remembers how she was afraid for renting her first corner:
“When I signed my first contract, I was constantly tormented by how I would pay for it all. But never mind, for the past six years we have been online and offline. And cope. But, of course, when the time comes for the next payment for something, for this, and you don't have a season - hands, it happens, get lowered ”.
But last winter Olga collapsed and thought to sell the business.
This still life symbolizes a hole from a donut, which turned the idea with the sale.
About the sale told suppliers, plus put up paid ads on specialized sites. Ads for money did not work, but from the supplier came the owner of the network of extreme shops, who decided to invest in eco-bio-topic. I made an appointment at a restaurant, I didn’t watch the point
“He says: so, I give you an option (a share that someday, probably, it will be possible to sell), I buy the rest. But! We throw out corporate clients, which they gave up to 30% of seasonal sales. Stocks - do not count. In general, he was interested only in the site. And he offered money as a site, not for the whole business. ”
Then Olga and let go.
At the same time with the sale of business would have to abandon the excellent marketing tool: festivals and fairs. But I did not want to.
Having mastered the creation of sites (even at uCoz, our main designer) and “My business”, Olga took up content marketing. Once a week she makes a newsletter - how to cook, for example, ketchup. From the names of ingredients puts links to products in the online store.
But instant sales, of course, does not.
For sales work mailings with promotions and discounts. They are, in their own way, unusual - for example, instead of “Black Friday”, when everyone spammed everyone with discounts, Olga arranged her sale - to “White Wednesday”. The number of orders increased 5 times.
Growth in the number of orders after the “White Wednesday”
All the letters she makes up herself. For mailing uses Unisender. The same guys made her trigger letters - automatic message chains with tips and buns for new customers. Next in line are transactional letters: what is with your order, the courier will arrive then, appreciate the service, etc.
While all this is done with a voice, but I want it to work by itself.
Recently, Olga is all about automation. On the base collection, for example, the idea of ​​an automatic pop-up “Gifts without purchases” worked great. After spending a minute on the site, the user sees the following message:
In order to receive a gift, you must, in general, come to the point of issue. But it’s great, and a contact has been received, and a person has been pulled offline.
But Olga refused to give presents to the managers of the oil company in a similar way.
“Somehow a certain hired agency called me. They say - let us give you free sets of spices for their main equivalent of 150 thousand, and we, they say, will popiar you in front of them. She refused, of course: well, what kind of top oil corporation would be interested in a spice shop in Perovo? ”
Its business is largely not for people in suits, but for subcultures. From offline channels, for example, loyalty programs and thematic publications for vegetarians, athletes, fans of the Vedic lifestyle and other categories of citizens work well.
Such an audience should be approached with humor - “Wet wipes for cleansing karma (or conscience)”.
In the Internet promotion, the picture is similar: “Most massive channels -“ Direct ”and AdWords - almost do not work for our sales. We entice people with popular inexpensive goods - like turmeric and black pepper, which are sold at 60-100 rubles. At the same time, our geography is all Russia. And here we come across the fact that the cost per click is high, and there are ten clicks per week. With a store conversion of 2-3%, it turns out to be unprofitable. ”
Returns are given by “J.Market”, where people sit, sorting goods by price - they see a malt-type indicator product, go over and buy malt barrels.
Otherwise, everything is ordinary. In the admin panel of the site is built-in product and warehouse management.
But this is not enough for Olga and I want new useful widgets for customers: for example, calculating the delivery through the API “Mail of Russia”, order calculator, etc. She is not lazy about the ideas of updates, comes to our office and tells ...
... And we are sawing these widgets and talking to her between times, go to uKit, we did the designer especially for small business. But we honestly could not transfer it to a new product.
But recently they learned that she nevertheless began to master simple designers. Only in the field of mobile applications.
She assembles applications for the order of eco-products for beauty, spices and natural milk - and wants to capture with them the entire market of the south-east of Moscow. There really are no other such stores in her district, and 60% of customers are already on the site from smartphones. So, it is necessary to simplify communication before the click.
We say statistics are relentless - and geeks buy bread makers.
Olga has been selling spices for eight years. At the beginning of her career, she suggested that the employer make a website and post online a price list for buyers. But she was not understood. Like, why expand the geography of sales and shine a point on these of your Internet, when buyers reached the tent 20 minutes from the Exhibition of Economic Achievements.
')
Then she decided to open her own business: with the Internet and spices.
The former employer - thanks to him - gave a couple of times to use a checking account, and then let her fill her own business cones. Having started up on a rake, Olga noticed the trend of “geeks and bread machines” and managed to expand the range so that she did not feel a drop in sales during this crisis.
Money box
It all started in a rented apartment: Olga borrowed money for the goods, asked a friend to make a website, and turned the room into a warehouse. And she started a “safe” - a tin box. All proceeds went to it. To penny.
That same box. Serves faithfully until now - but already in personal finances.
“The scheme was such - to buy for 50, to sell for 100, half of the amount to pay the supplier for the goods sold, for the second - to order a new one.”
At first, there were no couriers, and Olga herself went to the post office to send orders. Oil Painting - Small Business vs. turn for pensions, packages and stamps to buy. He says this: “If there was an old man standing behind me or a mother with a child, I, of course, missed them. And with the others - yes, it happened, quarreled, but not inferior. Still, when you are a small business, you need to show your teeth. ”
Olga eventually stopped telling people at the post office. When the trade went a little, I agreed with a small courier service.
The first rake was passed: outsourcing is always a painful choice for an offline entrepreneur. After all, spending that "that costs you nothing" - that is, spending time, at first seems logical. But having counted, Olga found out: the hour of her work as a “man-orchestra” cost at least 3,500 rubles. The courier for the same money worked with orders all day, freeing her for 2-3 hours.
Following Olga, her boyfriend and the cat exhaled: the warehouse store from the room moved to its first point of issue.
Geeks buy bread makers
In the business of food and bulk goods have their own indicator goods (in marketing, KVI). For these products, people judge the general level of prices in the store. These same products are often bought. For a supermarket, for example, this is the standard set: jelly, meat, bread, fruit and vegetables.
As an example, this is a survey of 1600 buyers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, made by the Business Analytica project. Prices are second in priority after location. At the same time, people usually remember the prices of those basic goods.
Olga had an online store with delivery and a delivery point - i.e. the location receded into the background, and the next program number was pricing.
Seeing what else is in demand, Olga decided to expand the range and began selling malt - it is used in home baking to “tint” rye loaves.
The plan was this - having found an inexpensive indicator product (malt), people would also order the rest from her. So it happened. Here is only in the section “Yandex. Metrics” in the section “Bakery” an interesting picture was observed. If moms and vegetarians walked around the rest of the site, men from 30 years old were interested in breadmaking.
The same section about bread baking. White in the center is vanillin, if that.
It turned out that adult men are interested in the topic of baking seriously, geeky. The story on the cake became a cherry when one friend came to Olga, was long interested in “But how, and what are you selling, and how is it better / worse?” - and a week later he sent a link to a post about the store. It turned out to be a big blogger on the subject of home baking: almost all of his LJ is filled with pictures of bread in the context of:
Reduced (so that more examples) screen from the blog of the bread guru.
“This market — everything connected with eco, bio, DIY food and proper nutrition — is growing. Thanks to entering it, we did not see a decline in sales during the current crisis. And the spices in our history have become just an appendage, of course. ”
How will we pay for it and how will we sell it?
The next step after the expansion of DIY product categories was an attempt to drag farmers to themselves and make a real “mini-eco-market” out of the usual point of issue. First, it would give a new level and growth due to the popular topic of health.
Secondly, together with someone it is more fun to pay rent than to one.
By that time, the registration of the point had to be changed - and it was time to move to the area of ​​new buildings, 10 minutes from the Perovo metro station. New buildings promise to settle everything, but in a crisis, people do not really buy real estate. In general, farmers did not dare to become in an empty area, across the road from which there is a shopping center with chain stores and fast food.
But they sent their products. So in this story there are more compotes, honey, jams and pickles:
Since then, the point of issue has been called "bio-groceries".
Although the idea to make a “mini-eco-market” opposite the shopping center turned out to be a failure , Olga is not discouraged. Yes, you have to pay for the premises alone. But she remembers how she was afraid for renting her first corner:
“When I signed my first contract, I was constantly tormented by how I would pay for it all. But never mind, for the past six years we have been online and offline. And cope. But, of course, when the time comes for the next payment for something, for this, and you don't have a season - hands, it happens, get lowered ”.
But last winter Olga collapsed and thought to sell the business.
This still life symbolizes a hole from a donut, which turned the idea with the sale.
About the sale told suppliers, plus put up paid ads on specialized sites. Ads for money did not work, but from the supplier came the owner of the network of extreme shops, who decided to invest in eco-bio-topic. I made an appointment at a restaurant, I didn’t watch the point
“He says: so, I give you an option (a share that someday, probably, it will be possible to sell), I buy the rest. But! We throw out corporate clients, which they gave up to 30% of seasonal sales. Stocks - do not count. In general, he was interested only in the site. And he offered money as a site, not for the whole business. ”
Then Olga and let go.
At the same time with the sale of business would have to abandon the excellent marketing tool: festivals and fairs. But I did not want to.
How does the marketing and IT part
Having mastered the creation of sites (even at uCoz, our main designer) and “My business”, Olga took up content marketing. Once a week she makes a newsletter - how to cook, for example, ketchup. From the names of ingredients puts links to products in the online store.
But instant sales, of course, does not.
For sales work mailings with promotions and discounts. They are, in their own way, unusual - for example, instead of “Black Friday”, when everyone spammed everyone with discounts, Olga arranged her sale - to “White Wednesday”. The number of orders increased 5 times.
Growth in the number of orders after the “White Wednesday”
All the letters she makes up herself. For mailing uses Unisender. The same guys made her trigger letters - automatic message chains with tips and buns for new customers. Next in line are transactional letters: what is with your order, the courier will arrive then, appreciate the service, etc.
While all this is done with a voice, but I want it to work by itself.
Recently, Olga is all about automation. On the base collection, for example, the idea of ​​an automatic pop-up “Gifts without purchases” worked great. After spending a minute on the site, the user sees the following message:
In order to receive a gift, you must, in general, come to the point of issue. But it’s great, and a contact has been received, and a person has been pulled offline.
But Olga refused to give presents to the managers of the oil company in a similar way.
“Somehow a certain hired agency called me. They say - let us give you free sets of spices for their main equivalent of 150 thousand, and we, they say, will popiar you in front of them. She refused, of course: well, what kind of top oil corporation would be interested in a spice shop in Perovo? ”
Its business is largely not for people in suits, but for subcultures. From offline channels, for example, loyalty programs and thematic publications for vegetarians, athletes, fans of the Vedic lifestyle and other categories of citizens work well.
Such an audience should be approached with humor - “Wet wipes for cleansing karma (or conscience)”.
In the Internet promotion, the picture is similar: “Most massive channels -“ Direct ”and AdWords - almost do not work for our sales. We entice people with popular inexpensive goods - like turmeric and black pepper, which are sold at 60-100 rubles. At the same time, our geography is all Russia. And here we come across the fact that the cost per click is high, and there are ten clicks per week. With a store conversion of 2-3%, it turns out to be unprofitable. ”
Returns are given by “J.Market”, where people sit, sorting goods by price - they see a malt-type indicator product, go over and buy malt barrels.
Otherwise, everything is ordinary. In the admin panel of the site is built-in product and warehouse management.
But this is not enough for Olga and I want new useful widgets for customers: for example, calculating the delivery through the API “Mail of Russia”, order calculator, etc. She is not lazy about the ideas of updates, comes to our office and tells ...
Capture the entire southeast
... And we are sawing these widgets and talking to her between times, go to uKit, we did the designer especially for small business. But we honestly could not transfer it to a new product.
But recently they learned that she nevertheless began to master simple designers. Only in the field of mobile applications.
She assembles applications for the order of eco-products for beauty, spices and natural milk - and wants to capture with them the entire market of the south-east of Moscow. There really are no other such stores in her district, and 60% of customers are already on the site from smartphones. So, it is necessary to simplify communication before the click.
We say statistics are relentless - and geeks buy bread makers.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/371979/
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