General Status Update
Another month where I spoke to the manufacturers more than I spoke to my friends.. I have finally received some very reassuring pictures from the manufacturers of the shoelaces so it’s now just a waiting game for these samples to be shipped next month!
I am close to feeling as prepared as I can be on all aspects of the launch but am now in need of the samples to unlock the remaining actions; e.g. to capture content of the laces to feature on the website / social media / Amazon, begin discussions with online retailers, as well as trial the durability of the product and ensure we are happy with the comfort/strength/style of the laces.
Survey Results
Thanks to all the triathletes that completed my survey! It was a great way for me to gauge market interest and better understand where to position the brand amongst competition with regards to pricing & sustainability factors as well as which channels to focus on. I had a good range of triathletes answer the survey (screenshot below) as well as a variety of ages and a good split of genders which enables me to trust the results as a good reflection of the wider triathlon market.
Key take-aways:
- Amazon is a key go to market strategy, with nearly 50% of all triathletes that own elastic laces having purchased them on Amazon
- Sustainability is an important factor within someone’s purchasing decision where people are also willing to pay more for sustainable products (61% agreed and 57% agreed respectively). I am therefore keen to ensure all packaging is sustainable at a minimum.
Website design & SEO
I am using Shopify as the platform to build my website and so far, it seems fool proof! I have watched many youtube ‘how to’ videos to guide me through and from this, have managed to build landing pages for the following page titles:
This is all work going on in the background as the current landing page, if you visit suspense.co, is a CTA to leave your email address to be the first to hear about the launch.
The website now has all the content typed up and loaded but is now just in need of some lifestyle and product images. I am really looking forward to arranging the photoshoot and bringing the brand to life!
A big thanks to Bex Mee for allowing me to pick her brains on all things SEO this month! To drive sales online, search is of course an important factor. For this, it’s key to ensure the website is optimised by; featuring the term ‘elastic laces’ as much as possible within the website content (blogs are a great way to boost this (elastic laces elastic laces elastic laces :P)), on page titles, and within the meta descriptions.
Beyond SEO, I will also be investing a little behind PPC marketing, having identified the key search terms. I will do this on a test and learn basis to ensure the search terms I have selected are the best to ultimately drive brand awareness and boost sales.
Amazon
Thanks so much to Quinn for an introduction into the world of Amazon seller central & top tips on what to do / what not to do when it comes to selling products on Amazon. Of course, just like SEO, there are ways to get your products to feature on the first page of your search term Amazon (and arguably vital if I am forecasting the bulk of the elastic lace sales to come from this channel). In a nutshell, the ways to achieve this are: adding good quality pictures of the product (in packaging, on trainers, how to install (video and picture), benefits etc), creating A+ content, receiving (good) organic product reviews (you must comply to Amazon’s terms of service, but running a flash 24hr sale and asking friends/family to purchase and review if they are able to is recommended on a lot of blogs as a great place to start!).
It was also interesting to learn the finance model for how Amazon works with small businesses (sellers). As a seller, I would pay a monthly fee of £25 to Amazon and ship my products to store at their warehouse; opting in for FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) to benefit from Amazon’s fulfillment expertise. Unless I am missing something it really is as simple as that to get your product listed! (N.B. there are some conditions to accessing a professional sellers plan such as needing to have a registered Trademark etc). Alike SEO, I will be bidding on key search terms (elastic laces) to trial sponsored product features at the top of these pages; hopefully leading to a boost in sales so that, in time, Suspense will organically be featured on the first page on Amazon when searching ‘elastic laces’.
Product & Packaging Updates
Wow.. creating a new product takes time..! The caps and socks have been relatively easy as you just need to find a manufacturer to suit your product needs and then share the logos/colours/packaging/sizing requests and off you go! But for a new product it’s important to test all aspects (one of each size / style / colour etc) and for one pair of elastic lace samples, the whole production line from start to finish has to be set up specifically for each one… It really is testing my patience but I don’t want to launch with a product that I am not happy with (it must be functionally faultless as well as look aesthetically pleasing), so my relationship with the elastic lace manufacturers continues in the form of daily whatsapps with status & picture updates! The good news is that I have received pictures of the new style of elastic laces we are creating as well as receiving confirmation that the content for the packaging has been approved for print. This was great news to receive as the first packaging suppliers said they wouldn’t be able to print gradient colouring onto the packaging. With the Suspense logo being a gradient effect linking the 3 S’s together, this was a deal breaker for me so it took time to source a new supplier that could print a gradient colour effect… Hopefully when I receive the samples next month, I can sign off the product as well as the packaging!
I am due to receive the samples in May, and from this, will be going down one of two routes:
- Samples are great & ready to place the bulk order
- Samples need some tweaks & request one final round of samples before placing a bulk order
If it’s option 1, then I will be able to lock in a launch date once production & shipping timelines are confirmed! The countdown will be on!
If it’s option 2, then it’ll likely mean delaying the launch until I am happy with the samples as well as being a good test of my patience :)
Fingers crossed!