Good Product Vrs Good Deals ?
3Hey Matt,
so what do you feel is more impotent/ profitable in the new world of e commerce..
Is good unforeseen deals what mediocre focus on offering to there deal partners ?
Or is Good Product at good price what you focus on ?
Most Deal site sell junk( don't tell anyone i said that), and returns is a rising issue allot of company face. customer are getting smarter, and now when an impulse buy happens there more likely to return..
Why ?
It is because they buy it for the price, and the level of customer services Zappos(now amazon stands by) is so challenging, and bad product no matter the deal will get returns (with an assumption they will not pay for return shipping).
Do you agree ?
I have started trend on different deal site in the footwear world, and there so much more to online then just offering good deals to website.
Obv customer service is number 1 priority even thou your a 3rd party seller, and it hard to promise what other company can do.
As a new company that will put there neck out for both the site and vendors, are you more focused on good product deals, or close out junk TJX wouldn't buy that are seen all over the market today ?
Thanks
- 6 comments, 3 replies
- Comment
Good question. The best perspective I can share is that a Deal is inclusive of the true value of a product. These elements are not actually distinct to me. A crappy product must be incredibly cheap to be a deal. An excellent product might be a deal at a smaller discount. Both are legitimate deals and both are valid for consideration and non-hyped representation to consumers. It is key to lower expectations to match the expected quality of the item.
Crappy product (or a good product) that later is found to have attributes that make it crappier definitely influences a customer to lower their opinion of the deal they got. In my view you have to focus on this long term deal value and not just the shock value of the cheap price on a crummy item.
From time to time mistakes will happen and a deal looks worse than intended in the rear view mirror. I've enjoyed maintaining company responsibility for the perspective people held on past deals. In bad situations, I've enjoy coming up with solutions that were met with fanfare. I wouldn't expect that to change in new venture opportunities at Mediocre Labs.
Mediocre: Where a Deal is a proper noun.
Thanks,
So will you guys be more selective in what product you brig to the table, or will you run more like a shipwire were they take everything and anything in there warehouse ?
You wouldn't want a vendor to ship you something that has been sitting in there warehouse for years, and then in bombs on site and now sit in your warehouse to rot.
Also what is your opinion on an inventory free world that all the deal site/ market place are now focused on ?
Yes its an amazing business model for the sites, but what about the vendor that now are stuck with odds and end after a deal ?
I truly believe there is way more then just offering good deals online to become the biggest, but the way things flow from point a -z.. do you agree ?
@Sababa23 I've always liked the hurdle of having to buy a product and bring it in to stock as a way to drive quality selections. The fear of buying a product that bombs drives you to research and understand various risk factors and doing that informs you of the right price to pay. Your customer is going to do the same internal 'math'
I do not shy away from inventory ownership, but I respect models that are more platform positioned (no inventory). They are very very hard to pull off. If you can get to a critical mass of audience without inventory, then that means you had a significant innovation that drove traffic to your site. You turned that into a loyal audience. You turned that into exclusive offerings. You either have the leverage to demand your vendors stock for you or not. Put another way, it is either profitable for the vendors or not and this will work out over time.
I'm not sure what you mean by your last point. I think we disagree on the scope of what the term deal means. You imply deal to mean discounts on severely flawed items. I believe deal means an exchange on something of value for a price lower than can be obtained elsewhere. On this basis, I'll disagree and say that the site that offers the best deals has probably already won. I could probably share your perspective on the enjoyment of brand, open customer dialog, service levels, etc., but deal quality is key.
I agree, and i have bought plenty of stock my self in the past and i understand what needs to be done not to get hurt. I defiantly agree that over time it will work out.
Like Michael Rubin once said about e commerce,
"we are only in the first inning of the game"
I also agree with you on what Deal means. I don't believe in junk no matter the price, the return could be a nightmare.
I do agree to disagree with one of your statement
"I'll disagree and say that the site that offers the best deals has probably already won "
In that case Amazon is losing (hypothetically)
Amazon, ect always has higher price then the deal site, but then again people trust amazon if something happens and its a different business model. But then again there is way to play with product were amazon, ect will always win even when it on a deal site at a lower cost.
Anyways it not just about the deal site winning, but more how everyone from Customer (#1) Vendors (#2) your company and team (#3) win.
I am sure you would agree with me on that one..
Thank you for your time, and talking with me.
Albert
@Sababa23 It is fun to propose that Amazon would be considered as losing to a deal site with better deals than they could supply. They did buy my last one :)
much enjoyed. I look forward to avoiding buying junk together someday.
@Sababa23 Don't forget that Amazon has incredible logistics. You'll receive your order faster from Amazon than anyone else.
Incredible, but optimized for the times you need an item in 2 days but NOT immediately and NOT in 5 days for less $ (not universally better)
Will Mediocre Lab start shipping with drones ? same day delevery !!!!!