What does a Digital Googly look like?

NEWS FLASH: See the AMANO Tongue Cleanser website:  launched June 2014

It has been 2 weeks since my crowdfunding activity on Seedrs, the UKs fastest growing crowdfunding portal, began.

This is what I know:

I’ve reached over 20% of my target with 25 Investors backing The Amano Tongue Cleanser so far – and I still have 11 weeks to go to reach my £100,000 funding target.

Plus my pitch was the biggest mover on Seedrs crowdfunding site in the last week! 

And lastly the US based crowdfunding journal Crowdfund Insider lavishly featured my “2000 year tongue cleanser design”, well it is based on an AD100 Roman design.

And what I don’t quite know:

Is this a ‘good’, ‘poor’ or ‘just OK’ performance?  As you all know I am a crowdfunding virgin.

Interestingly:

The profile sets of Investors and ‘interested parties’ have surprised me – a healthy mix of Lawyers, Accountants and Businesspeople from Oxbridge (really, I’m not kidding) plus London based marketing services professionals.

These ‘Interested parties’ have been able to ask me any question they wish on my pitch, which I then have to answer publically on the open forum.

I’ve had 3 types of questions thus far:

1. The slow straight easy delivery (“Can I have your business plan?”)

2. Several fast deliveries with turn

3. And one Googly

The 2nd most challenging question has been this (and I paraphrase):

“The product looks great, I can see the potential - so why choose an e-commerce strategy rather than selling in a retail environment”?

Now I have to admit I struggle to respond to this in a FRESH way each time it is asked.

So I am going to road test a new answer right here…

Yes e-commerce is about:

*Ease of shopping – armchair (who actually has one of these by the way?) versus having to traipse out to the shops

*Better gross margins – 70% rather than a derisory 25%

*The ‘product’ is always ‘in stock’ (or ‘in-transit’). If the ‘buy’ decision has been made, ‘closing a deal’ with a purchase has a 100% chance of actually happening on-line, compared to the chance of it actually being on shelf in the retail shop you happen to pop into.

BUT the crucial factor, that places e-commerce head and shoulders above retail bricks and mortar, is the scope of the target market I can potentially connect with – rather than just hope to.

Place your product in a retail store environment and you are really dependent on the footfall into that shop.

Place it on your web site, sprinkle some SEO and targeted new media advertising magic dust – and you have gained cost effective CONTROL over who enters your on-line store – across a global scale.

Check out the dizzying numbers that can be applied to the so-called ‘niche market’ for tongue cleansing:

Now try to imagine 50 million consumers walking through your local Pharmacy, Supermarket or Department store – looking for the Amano Tongue Cleanser...

IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

So via e-commerce I have 50 million potential interested consumers to target – rather than a miniscule proportion of that – if I had chosen the retail store option in the UK alone.

It doesn’t need a Rocket Scientist to see the compelling logic of opting for an e-commerce biased strategy.

And if it’s real proven numbers you crave, check this out.

These are the unique visitors to the top US retail websites in the second quarter of 2013. Mind inspiring ‘footfall’ numbers without doubt.

So – what was the Googly I had delivered at me, I hear you ask?

Well you will need to go onto the Seedrs site to this that particular question.

But as I said in my response to the bowler of said Googly, Gregory;

“I didn’t see that coming”.