Need advice on how to expand my business

[José Airosa]

A further comment - you have too many items and figures from different series on your site. You'll overwhelm your users.

Personally, I would cut about half your categories, and begin by focusing on the popular stuff. Some of the things you have are really obscure, or they come from series that just weren't that popular.

My thought behind this was that if I have more offering there's a higher probability of having something the customer is looking for. I would say, looking at the data I've gathered from customers using the shop, they normally know what they want. They will immediately go for the search and try to find what they want and leave soon after if they don't. A lot others will go through a lot of pages, one by one.

 

[japancool]

My thought behind this was that if I have more offering there's a higher probability of having something the customer is looking for. I would say, looking at the data I've gathered from customers using the shop, they normally know what they want. They will immediately go for the search and try to find what they want and leave soon after if they don't. A lot others will go through a lot of pages, one by one.

For the most part, I agree with this approach but I think there can be such a thing as too much choice. As you've only been operating for two months, you won't have enough clear data yet to know what people are and aren't looking at, I guess.

One thing you will find useful at MCM is to take note of what people ask you for.

We're dipping our toes into certain figures ourselves, but we have a very specific criteria about what we're planning to stock. It doesn't overlap with anything you do.

 

[José Airosa]

For the most part, I agree with this approach but I think there can be such a thing as too much choice. As you've only been operating for two months, you won't have enough clear data yet to know what people are and aren't looking at, I guess.

One thing you will find useful at MCM is to take note of what people ask you for.

We're dipping our toes into certain figures ourselves, but we have a very specific criteria about what we're planning to stock. It doesn't overlap with anything you do.

I'll do my best to go to MCM. I've already emailed them asking for more details.

Really appreciate your time it has been really helpful to get a bit more insight from someone in the same market.

 

[BlackMagicX]

Hey! Great to see someone here that knows this market.

It's true, it's niche. I've got so many things planned for the shop, content to add to the blog, etc. It's just hard because I'm doing all of this alone and there's only 24h in the day. I've managed to automate everything that is related with the shop. I just need to focus mostly on getting the shop out there and polishing rough edges.

I'm surprised that currently 50% of my orders are pre-orders. I didn't expect such a high volume when I started.

The reason every other website looks terrible is exactly why I decided to get into this. Fortunately due to my background I can build anything technically, but it's the marketing side that I'm currently lacking the most.

Thanks for the Instagram suggestion. I'm on all social networks currently and a lot of them are automated with IFTTT and Buffer, which helps a lot.

That is exactly the same idea I had, except I'm a Marketer/Graphic Designer. Our skills are very compatible, unfortunately it's not the industry for me. However, I am now going to collect anime figurines because they look awesome! Actually the ones that sell the best are the half naked Japanese girls (sometimes naked). I even considered just shipping them from China, but after research I realised that anything other than Japanese made models is a no, no.

I would take Japan Cools advice on board, I looked into his company closely as well. He probably knows the market the best here.

 

[BlackMagicX]

Also, what is your website?

 

[José Airosa]

Also, what is your website?

Here it is: animegami.co.uk

 

[japancool]

That is exactly the same idea I had, except I'm a Marketer/Graphic Designer. Our skills are very compatible, unfortunately it's not the industry for me. However, I am now going to collect anime figurines because they look awesome! Actually the ones that sell the best are the half naked Japanese girls (sometimes naked). I even considered just shipping them from China, but after research I realised that anything other than Japanese made models is a no, no.

I would take Japan Cools advice on board, I looked into his company closely as well. He probably knows the market the best here.

The Chinese stuff is also unlicensed - effectively knock-offs, and usually poor quality.

 

[José Airosa]

That is exactly the same idea I had, except I'm a Marketer/Graphic Designer. Our skills are very compatible, unfortunately it's not the industry for me. However, I am now going to collect anime figurines because they look awesome! Actually the ones that sell the best are the half naked Japanese girls (sometimes naked). I even considered just shipping them from China, but after research I realised that anything other than Japanese made models is a no, no.

I would take Japan Cools advice on board, I looked into his company closely as well. He probably knows the market the best here.

Agreed! To be really honest, forgetting the sexual aspect of those figures, they are amazing and super detailed pieces of art!i really like them

 

[José Airosa]

The Chinese stuff is also unlicensed - effectively knock-offs.

True, I'm finishing to write a full post about bootleg figures. Hopefully to clear some questions people have.

 

[japancool]

Do you know what your target demographic is?

 

[José Airosa]

Do you know what your target demographic is?

Mostly UK. But I've sold to most of Northern Europe and I'll ship to anywhere in the world.

 

[BlackMagicX]

Main reason I decided to register for VAT was to bring more trust to the business. With some research I did with my accountant we found that people are more prone to trust business registered for VAT, specially when values are as high as some of the items I'm selling.

Also wanted to make this a learning experience so doing it this way makes it better to learn how all this work.

This is not the case, I have sold high end goods before and have not been VAT registered. As a marketer I know there is a million and one other things in ecommerce that build trust. A VAT number is only one of them. I did register for one of my businesses which I stopped 6 months later. I got a nasty bill from HMRC 12 months later because I forgot I registered and failed to complete my tax return lol.

 

[José Airosa]

This is not the case, I have sold high end goods before and have not been VAT registered. As a marketer I know there is a million and one other things in ecommerce that build trust. A VAT number is only one of them. I did register for one of my businesses which I stopped 6 months later. I got a nasty bill from HMRC 12 months later because I forgot I registered and failed to complete my tax return lol.

Hehehe yes that would happen. Thankfully I've got an accountant that deals with all of that for me.

 

[japancool]

Mostly UK. But I've sold to most of Northern Europe and I'll ship to anywhere in the world.

No, I mean who are the people who are buying from you? Understanding your demographic will help you target your advertising more effectively and reduce your costs.

 

[japancool]

The bad news for you is that we're about to head into the low season for sales. Make sure you know what the release pipeline is so that you can do the appropriate marketing when new figures are released.

 

[José Airosa]

No, I mean who are the people who are buying from you? Understanding your demographic will help you target your advertising more effectively and reduce your costs.

Ah yes, i would say Male, 25+. But I still need more data I believe.

 

[BlackMagicX]

My thought behind this was that if I have more offering there's a higher probability of having something the customer is looking for. I would say, looking at the data I've gathered from customers using the shop, they normally know what they want. They will immediately go for the search and try to find what they want and leave soon after if they don't. A lot others will go through a lot of pages, one by one.

This is actually a common misconception in ecommerce. In some cases it's better to offer less choice to the customer. In fact, many successful ecommerce stores only have one or two products. The trick is to create a strong brand. Branding is everything in today's ecommerce world. You expand you inventory once you have a successful line. This is not for all cases though

 

[BlackMagicX]

Your website is fairly good. Definitely an improvement on what's out there already. Which ecommerce platform did you use?

 

[japancool]

This is actually a common misconception in ecommerce. In some cases it's better to offer less choice to the customer. In fact, many successful ecommerce stores only have one or two products. The trick is to create a strong brand. Branding is everything in today's ecommerce world. You expand you inventory once you have a successful line. This is not for all cases though

You can have a large catalogue of products, but they need to be targeted, I think.

 

[José Airosa]

Your website is fairly good. Definitely an improvement on what's out there already. Which ecommerce platform did you use?

Thank you!

It's built with woocommerce.

 

[japancool]

Your website is fairly good. Definitely an improvement on what's out there already. Which ecommerce platform did you use?

He's using Woocommerce.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

My point is what precautions have you made for fraud by both card and delivery, as your are selling items over £100 then sooner or later you will become a target as easy for a fraudster to sell on

PayPal mainly take the side of the customer so if they say they never received it they allow a chargeback so you need to ensure your drop shipper uses a reliable tracked service

The PSP you use should have something like 3rd man which checks cards against a large number of points to try and stop card fraud

Make sure you are fully up on the distant selling regulations and consumer rights there are plenty of nasty people out there looking for gaps in your defence

 

[Mr A P Davies]

It's interesting and encouraging to see a good open discussion about a bang up to date ecommerce website, that is showing so much promise.
All the more so, that it is getting promising sales from a niche market.
It's one thing reading about it in books, or hearing what folk have done, but seeing it dissected like this gives me a lot of encouragement.

 

[José Airosa]

My point is what precautions have you made for fraud by both card and delivery, as your are selling items over £100 then sooner or later you will become a target as easy for a fraudster to sell on

PayPal mainly take the side of the customer so if they say they never received it they allow a chargeback so you need to ensure your drop shipper uses a reliable tracked service

The PSP you use should have something like 3rd man which checks cards against a large number of points to try and stop card fraud

Make sure you are fully up on the distant selling regulations and consumer rights there are plenty of nasty people out there looking for gaps in your defence

Hello!

I'm using PayPal and Stripe. In terms of delivery, in UK I'm using interlink which I believe, as being part of the DPD group, it's one of the most reliable couriers out there. As for rest of the world I'm using Royal Mail tracked.

But you raise a very good point. So far I think I almost had a fraudulent order, but luckily Stripe pick it up and declined the card twice.

 

[José Airosa]

It's interesting and encouraging to see a good open discussion about a bang up to date ecommerce website, that is showing so much promise.
All the more so, that it is getting promising sales from a niche market.
It's one thing reading about it in books, or hearing what folk have done, but seeing it dissected like this gives me a lot of encouragement.

Thanks a lot! I honestly never thought I would get this level of quality in terms of participation and help. I'm definitely surprised and happy to have come here

 

[Henry Simons]

I'd agree with Duci and wither reduce or stop your ad spend until you've got things more straight.

Everyone above has already mentioned social media, which I think with the audience you're targeting is a must! Have you tried forums too? There must be loads for this audience, there are also a lot of meet-ups and conventions which your target audience would attend so might be worth looking into those? Not as an exhibitor but go along and get your business name out there Good luck

 

[Digital Resellers]

Good simple website that your target market will find user friendly.

I was in a similar position where an affiliate website was driving 60% plus of my sales! my recommendation would be to acquire this website if possible.

Also there are program's out there to discover how the affiliate site is driving appropriate traffic.

Global SEO is also a good way forward targeting converting keywords.

However I would really look at marketing expenses versus profit

 

[José Airosa]

Good simple website that your target market will find user friendly.

I was in a similar position where an affiliate website was driving 60% plus of my sales! my recommendation would be to acquire this website if possible.

Also there are program's out there to discover how the affiliate site is driving appropriate traffic.

Global SEO is also a good way forward targeting converting keywords.

However I would really look at marketing expenses versus profit

Hi there!

I don't think I'd be able to acquire that website. It's one of the biggest in the world and drives more than 2M user a month.

Thank you for the input, I'll look into that

 

[José Airosa]

I'd agree with Duci and wither reduce or stop your ad spend until you've got things more straight.

Everyone above has already mentioned social media, which I think with the audience you're targeting is a must! Have you tried forums too? There must be loads for this audience, there are also a lot of meet-ups and conventions which your target audience would attend so might be worth looking into those? Not as an exhibitor but go along and get your business name out there Good luck

Biggest issue with stopping ads on google is that at the moment I'm getting quite a bit o traffic from there. But I'm looking into focusing on finding forums that I can advertise.

 

[PaulBappoo]

Awesome! I love this type of niche market hobbyist collector type of site, it falls right into the content marketing approach that I love so much. You just need to convert those clicks into email addresses on your mailing list, then send them some right nice stuff on a reasonably regular basis that will turn them on. Every ad you run that generates a click, for which you do not get an email address, is a click wasted. Try to focus more on bringing people in to your list rather than getting them to buy something right away, then rock that list like, er, batman

 

[PaulBappoo]

Oh and another thing, maybe some silly character based Youtube'ing would be a nice channel to get to the market.

 

[José Airosa]

Awesome! I love this type of niche market hobbyist collector type of site, it falls right into the content marketing approach that I love so much. You just need to convert those clicks into email addresses on your mailing list, then send them some right nice stuff on a reasonably regular basis that will turn them on. Every ad you run that generates a click, for which you do not get an email address, is a click wasted. Try to focus more on bringing people in to your list rather than getting them to buy something right away, then rock that list like, er, batman

Thanks a lot! It's great to hear good feedback

I'm currently running a giveaway in the hopes of building email a mailing list https://animegami.co.uk/blog/game-thrones-giveaway/.

I have also a really good recording setup at home (my girlfriend streams on Twitch) that I can use to make some nice youtube content. I've ordered a while back a bunch of items that I haven't opened yet as the original plan was to do an unboxing review.

 

[japancool]

From experience, giveaways don't work very well because they tend to attract people who are interested in giveaways, not people who will be interested in buying in the future, and you're also giving away a boardgame, rather than a figure, which is what you're primarily selling.

What you need is people who already have an audience to be onside, as you're doing with trying to find forums etc.

What are your competitors doing?

 

[José Airosa]

From experience, giveaways don't work very well because they tend to attract people who are interested in giveaways, not people who will be interested in buying in the future, and you're also giving away a boardgame, rather than a figure, which is what you're primarily selling.

What you need is people who already have an audience to be onside, as you're doing with trying to find forums etc.

What are your competitors doing?

You're right. At this point I'm taking everything as a learning exercise. I've got a lot of data from every person that comes to the shop. So with this giveaway, price changes, moving things around the pages (mostly homepage) I then, based on data, am able to make decisions.

Biggest one, which has millions of likes on facebook and other social networks is investing heavily on facebook advertising. I found, for my shop, facebook is quantity but not quality.
By far, the forums are the ones bringing the best quality of visitor. The problem is that a lot of forums don't allow posting links as advertising on their threads.

 

[PaulBappoo]

Thanks a lot! It's great to hear good feedback

I'm currently running a giveaway in the hopes of building email a mailing list

I have also a really good recording setup at home (my girlfriend streams on Twitch) that I can use to make some nice youtube content. I've ordered a while back a bunch of items that I haven't opened yet as the original plan was to do an unboxing review.

Ah yes the giveaway... Are you simultaneously running that on social too? I would whack it out on FB in some groups dedicated to this stuff and give the prize to someone at random from all the people who like/share/comment. However, competitions often dont work so well because a lot of people have "I will never win" syndrome and don't bother entering. If I were you would think about getting people to sign up for something that they will definitely get, that is valuable to them. That thing has to be some sort of electronic information based thing thought, so it doesn't cost you money to send out.

I dont know your punters, but usually top 10's are quite attractive, I did a quick Google and found a neat article titled "12 Reasons to Collect Anime Action Figures"

Thats the sort of thing I am on about

P

 

[José Airosa]

Ah yes the giveaway... Are you simultaneously running that on social too? I would whack it out on FB in some groups dedicated to this stuff and give the prize to someone at random from all the people who like/share/comment. However, competitions often dont work so well because a lot of people have "I will never win" syndrome and don't bother entering. If I were you would think about getting people to sign up for something that they will definitely get, that is valuable to them. That thing has to be some sort of electronic information based thing thought, so it doesn't cost you money to send out.

I dont know your punters, but usually top 10's are quite attractive, I did a quick Google and found a neat article titled "12 Reasons to Collect Anime Action Figures"

Thats the sort of thing I am on about

P

Awesome stuff thanks a lot Paul!

Will look into this today as soon as I get home hehe

 

[japancool]

Rather than direct advertising, find a forum that has reviews, and then send an attractive item to them for review.

Facebook advertising works quite well for us, but you musn't expect immediate conversions. We use FB to build an audience that we can easily reach with new product announcements, company news, etc. Given how much targeting it allows, it's very cost effective. I imagine the "biggest one" you're talking about is an international supplier?

 

[José Airosa]

Rather than direct advertising, find a forum that has reviews, and then send an attractive item to them for review.

Facebook advertising works quite well for us, but you musn't expect immediate conversions. We use FB to build an audience that we can easily reach with new product announcements, company news, etc. Given how much targeting it allows, it's very cost effective. I imagine the "biggest one" you're talking about is an international supplier?

Yes correct. Other ones in the UK I haven't seen them advertising that much in other forums, however, they come up first on things like "collectible figures uk" where I'm on page 5 or 6

 

[japancool]

Yes correct. Other ones in the UK I haven't seen them advertising that much in other forums, however, they come up first on things like "collectible figures uk" where I'm on page 5 or 6

When you advertise on FB, you must make a big deal about the fact that you are based in the UK, because that's your USP compared to them (and I think I know who they are).

Assuming your drop-shipper is UK based, that is!

 

[Raw Rob]

they come up first on things like "collectible figures uk"

But do people search on that term? I would guess that the search terms with higher conversions are searches for specific figures.