The things you learn when you're the client

Talk about our Cutting Edge Knives business - Dot York conference - 1st May 2014

Transcript

1. The things you learn when you’re the client
2. James Young ! Creative Director @Offroadcode Knife selling guy @CutEdgeKnives @welcomebrand
3. By day, I design and build websites @welcomebrand
4. @welcomebrand cuttingedgeknives.co.uk By day, I also sell fancy kitchen knives
5. What’s this about? • Share some lessons learnt from starting a business from scratch • How selling a physical product is different to making a website • Testing ideas in a real world environment • We wanted to build a “business in a box” • Understanding clients better by becoming one @welcomebrand
6. Kif, the solution is clear - add more modals @welcomebrand
7. We built a small business • Find and research a product we could sell • All design and Umbraco CMS development done by us • Invested £7,000 in stock @welcomebrand
8. £7000
9. £7000
10. Launch quickly • 2-3 week sprint to get the bulk of the site built • Content first build meant design took shape quickly • Whiteboard, paper and our experience quickest way to flesh out design • Plan to sell from day 1 @welcomebrand
11. @welcomebrand
12. What have we actually tried? A lot of stuff we just assumed would just work and bring visitors and orders. Google Adwords Full page magazine ads Competitions Facebook ads High Cost, Low Reward Low Cost, High Reward Creating original content Giving stuff away to influencers Newsletters & social engagement Landing page and basket optimisation @welcomebrand Icons:
13. Selling & Optimisation • Stock and sales reporting tools • Super long basket timeouts • Genuine Free postage 1 • A useful money back guarantee • Tell people why they don’t need to abandon your site @welcomebrand We use a mix of front end messages, design and reporting tools. 1 http://www.welcomebrand.co.uk/thoughts/a-guide-to-ecommerce-postage/
14. @welcomebrand cuttingedgeknives.co.uk A simple design addition led to 20% improvement in completion
15. Testing in the real world • It would just take too long • Use good design principles - keep it simple • We ask our customers “did we nearly lose your business?” @welcomebrand We don’t have Amazon traffic so it’s hard to test every tiny detail
16. Other problems we’ve faced • It can take months to restock • Lots of out of stock items • Language and culture barrier with suppliers • UK Customs @welcomebrand It’s not just design and code that cause you problems when you’re selling a product.
17. @welcomebrand Pic: A typical UK Customs warehouse
18. It’s still a side project … for now • Still just a few hours a week to run • Planning to double our sales this year with more capital investment • Aiming to be more than a side project • We’d love to repeat with a different product @welcomebrand
19. What can you take home from this? • Automate where possible - stock checks, label printing, it all saves time • Seek opportunities beyond colour tweaks! • You’re building “battle tested” tools you can use elsewhere • Backing yourself gives you demonstrable power • Be reasonable and honest @welcomebrand
20. What else? • Fun factor • Our MP bosses around UK customs for us • We’re going to Japan to visit suppliers • Speaking at conferences and meeting people • Making money • Enables us to have some “20% time” • Or pay a salary @welcomebrand
21. Thanks for listening Buy a knife - cuttingedgeknives.co.uk Work with us - offroadcode.com ! Catch me on Twitter - @welcomebrand !