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A meeting with Harrods

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vvaannmmaann said:
OP ignore all the negative posts.
I am delighted you have been invited to talk to them.Hope it all goes well.
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To be nice and clear, I have not posted anything negative about the Product (see what I did there?). I think it looks nice, might even buy some, I do however question the standing of the organisation which gave the 'highly coveted' award, highly regarded and synonymous with exclusivity etc? Nope.
 
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Ignore the negatives, and by this I mean the people who are saying sell at break even. In my experience (suplying national catering customers) the minute someone invites you in you can almost name your price. You state you set out to be the Gucci of chocolate, can't imagine them worrying about break even prices. If it was me I woudl be thinking about how much can I get away with charging. So in preparation :
1. Look at similar products in their range and what the gap for your product is.
2. From this establish how much they can charge for your product.
3. Don't be frightened to say you don't have the experience of dealing with their type of business - A good buyer will suss this immediately anyway so don't try and blag your way through.
4. Don't try and conclude the deal on the day, if they like the product, they will like it the day after and the day after.
5. Get some sort of idea of volumes they can buy from you using exact volumes of similar products they currently stock.
6. Then go away and create a deal.
& I recommend you put some pricing tiers in using retrospective volume rebates, so as you get economies of scale from increased production they get a cheaper price, not just a cheaper price upfront and then they deliver small volumes.

I supplied some product in Selfridges once and the volume was absolutley tiny, to the point a decent corner shop could have probably sold more, so don't get carried away.
 
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Yes a "buy/store" menu item in top navigation is needed but that's different from a BIG button on the home page - if people start looking through the site they are more likely to look for the buy option, but for casual visitors you want them to see immediately an option to buy - a beautiful photo which is very obviously a link, etc. Even at these prices, casual visitors need to be sucked in.

A proper SEO person will have the stats on what % you lose for every click they have to make.
 
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movietub said:
But people were kind and interested and brave enough to give an opinion anyway. That's so valuable and useful.
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How wonderful of them. Isn't this a great collection of shrewd business minds.

Has anyone on here ordered from the OP?
 
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Lee Jones Jnr said:
How wonderful of them. Isn't this a great collection of shrewd business minds.
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I don't know how many opinions on here I would link to shrewd business minds. But yes, if you have a business there is never a bad or inappropriate time for anyone to look at any part of it objectively and criticise it.

Even if they're taking the p*ss. Let's face it, jokes don't get cracked about nothing - and they can be very revealing when it comes to general perception of the brand etc.

Web forums are the perfect place to find honest criticism. No one has to be nice or polite as no one is face to face. You simply say what you think, and the (hopefully shrewd) business mind at the other end processes the information and makes improvements.

I can't wait to put my new site on here for people to lay in to. I know my customers are never going to call me to discuss the site in detail, I need the UKBF endless resource of people with time on their hands and never ending opinions to give!
 
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movietub said:
I don't know how many opinions on here I would link to shrewd business minds. But yes, if you have a business there is never a bad or inappropriate time for anyone to look at any part of it objectively and criticise it.

Even if they're taking the p*ss. Let's face it, jokes don't get cracked about nothing - and they can be very revealing when it comes to general perception of the brand etc.

Web forums are the perfect place to find honest criticism. No one has to be nice or polite as no one is face to face. You simply say what you think, and the (hopefully shrewd) business mind at the other end processes the information and makes improvements.

I can't wait to put my new site on here for people to lay in to. I know my customers are never going to call me to discuss the site in detail, I need the UKBF endless resource of people with time on their hands and never ending opinions to give!
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Seems fair, with the caveat that I speak the same way at all times be it online or face to face. Rudeness for the sake of it is silly, as is failing to fight your corner. Too many brave people on the internet.
 
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Lee Jones Jnr said:
Seems fair, with the caveat that I speak the same way at all times be it online or face to face. Rudeness for the sake of it is silly, as is failing to fight your corner. Too many brave people on the internet.
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It's not rudeness (that I'm referring too anyway), it's a lack of excessive politeness. IE, when your eating a meal in a restaurant and it's ok, but you won't be back. When the waiter checks back on the table most people will smile and say everything's fine unless there is a major issue.

Politeness dictates you shouldn't make a fuss if you don't need too. But common sense says that any small criticism you can make is of benefit to everyone. The restaurant owner wants to make his restaurant better, and you want a better meal if you do return.

On forums, there is just the naked opinion - asked for or not. It's one of those things you can either resent, or use to make you more successful imo.
 
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movietub said:
It's not rudeness (that I'm referring too anyway), it's a lack of excessive politeness. IE, when your eating a meal in a restaurant and it's ok, but you won't be back. When the waiter checks back on the table most people will smile and say everything's fine unless there is a major issue.

Politeness dictates you shouldn't make a fuss if you don't need too. But common sense says that any small criticism you can make is of benefit to everyone. The restaurant owner wants to make his restaurant better, and you want a better meal if you do return.

On forums, there is just the naked opinion - asked for or not. It's one of those things you can either resent, or use to make you more successful imo.
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I see.
If a meal is just okay, I say so. Not rudely, but clearly.

Perhaps that's why I'm not very successful :(

If answering a question that wasn't asked is the way forward for this thread, I agree with the need to make it easier to buy and with getting the non hyphenated domains.
I also think that claiming certain awards and organisations are something to be revered is a tricky area.
 
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Lee Jones Jnr said:
I see.
If a meal is just okay, I say so. Not rudely, but clearly.

Perhaps that's why I'm not very successful :(

If answering a question that wasn't asked is the way forward for this thread, I agree with the need to make it easier to buy and with getting the non hyphenated domains.
I also think that claiming certain awards and organisations are something to be revered is a tricky area.
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It's not the person that chooses to be honest or polite that gets the success, it's the person that chooses to listen at all times!

My honest opinion on the branding is that the weird, slightly funny, name is a gamble. The fact it's weird (and has caused much discussion here) is a good thing in some ways, but only if it's not so weird that people don't take it seriously enough to actually buy it.

I'm not adverse to a gamble in business, but it's a very big gamble to take on a name that doesn't represent the core values of the brand. It doesn't say anything about the product itself.

So for me, it would be a gamble I don't need to take as I could probably think of a better brand name to start with. Maybe I could then add a wacky/novel element to that brand name.

As for the kudos of having a product in Harrods (hopefully), I don't think there is any really. Sure it's a good talking point at the pub, but if the brand is successful long term Harrods will never be anything other than a small account. And they will hammer the price down becasue they are Harrods, so any small level of kudos or pride is offset by having to pander to their conditions of purchase.

When it comes to selling low cost items you want volume. So getting it into TESCO's, or in fact even WH smiths etc would be more exciting than Harrods. A local chain of 5 newsagents would be a bigger deal in fact.
 
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I thought the non hyphens were available they were taken before the op formed by the looks.

What i thought was being suggested was grab the other hyphens available such as org.uk .net and .info to stop seo's trying to land them on google page one.

Thing is getting into Harrods gives the op would give a bit more credibility really if a dodgy situation come about.

I wouldn't waste money buying the non hyphens taken.
 
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movietub said:
It's not the person that chooses to be honest or polite that gets the success, it's the person that chooses to listen at all times!

My honest opinion on the branding is that the weird, slightly funny, name is a gamble. The fact it's weird (and has caused much discussion here) is a good thing in some ways, but only if it's not so weird that people don't take it seriously enough to actually buy it.

I'm not adverse to a gamble in business, but it's a very big gamble to take on a name that doesn't represent the core values of the brand. It doesn't say anything about the product itself.

So for me, it would be a gamble I don't need to take as I could probably think of a better brand name to start with. Maybe I could then add a wacky/novel element to that brand name.

As for the kudos of having a product in Harrods (hopefully), I don't think there is any really. Sure it's a good talking point at the pub, but if the brand is successful long term Harrods will never be anything other than a small account. And they will hammer the price down becasue they are Harrods, so any small level of kudos or pride is offset by having to pander to their conditions of purchase.

When it comes to selling low cost items you want volume. So getting it into TESCO's, or in fact even WH smiths etc would be more exciting than Harrods. A local chain of 5 newsagents would be a bigger deal in fact.
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Okay, let's hear your better brand name?

I agree thatthey need to be regarded as any other customer. The places that are likely to actually sell any of this product are very limited, it's never going to be a big seller.
 
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I will admit I haven't read all 10 pages but it seems to me the op is doing very well with his name, website and product as is :D it comes over as a very classy product and to me it seems perfectly pitched.

Not sure how many others on here have a product so highly regarded that Harrods have sought them out, there is obviously a good market for this luxury product and I hope it goes very well!
 
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I agree, the OP didn't ask for suggestions and certainly doesn't want people arguing when he doesn't take the suggestions!
 
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On the down side he didn't have the sense to not use his real business name whilst asking for advice. The way this thread is going UKBF will outrank him for his keywords, so when the Harrods buyer Googles his business name he'll find out he was on here asking for advice regarding the Harrods buyer. That will be amusing for all wont it.;)
 
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Yeah I was thinking the same thing, but tbh not much of this thread is relevent to the original question. If I were the op I would ask for this to be locked and become a full member :D
 
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MrsPWN said:
Yeah I was thinking the same thing, but tbh not much of this thread is relevent to the original question. If I were the op I would ask for this to be locked and become a full member :D
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If you Google 'The chocolate Harrods' its already page 2. Wont be long and it will outrank Harrods.:D
 
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Lee Jones Jnr said:
If answering a question that wasn't asked is the way forward.
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You seem unfamiliar with the concept of an internet forum. Threads go off on tangents - relevant or otherwise - and all you can hope is the original question gets answered along the way. If you ask people to help you for free on a public forum, they can and will give any opinions they think are relevant, whether you asked for them or not!
 
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I admit i havent read all the replies to this thread so forgive me if im repeating anything. Ive looked at the website and noted the 'freshly made' as well as the cost. my question is how much lower would you expect to sell these chocs to harrods and any other retailer . and how could you retain the freshly made slogan if they appear on a retailers shelf. imo retailers would expect to pay half of what your marketing your chocs for and if harrods wanted exclusivity what then????
 
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Hi

I used to know a family that spent hundreds on small boxes of choccies, so these should do very well. The market to aim for is the Arab market (Harrods owner is of course Arab) so perhaps get some advertising in Arab magazines and what not?

I've seen many a chocolate covered in jewel type things - generally individually wrapped mind you...jewel on each choccy, but it has a market. Especially as you say re wedding favours. Perhaps do look at the individual wrappings.
 
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What a beautiful product and I wish you well with your meeting.

Have you been to Harrods to see if there is anything similar to your product, and if there is, what is its price point?

I think your website is classy and agree with others about the other URL's.
One suggestion though, and this is just a personal opinion, rather than have delivered by Royal Mail.... why not just have hand delivered to your door?

Good luck.
 
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I'm sure the chocolates are good but you're mostly paying for the packaging, and on close inspection I'm not sure it's worth the price tag when you can get something like this for £75. Having said that, Harrods + crystals + gold-covered chocolates sounds like a winner so I wish you luck.

BTW to anyone not used to seeing gold on food just go into any Indian sweet mart in London/Leicester/Manchester and there will be 'mithai' coated in gold foil among the wide selection behind the counter, its perfectly common. OK it's not chocolate though.
 
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Psl said:
rather than have delivered by Royal Mail.... why not just have hand delivered to your door?
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That's a great point... on the boxes especially, courier service as standard. You could even include "free worldwide P&P" if the numbers work!

popunder said:
I'm sure the chocolates are good but you're mostly paying for the packaging, and on close inspection I'm not sure it's worth the price tag
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Of course its not "worth" that amount - it's a pure ostentatious luxury. But there is nothing wrong with that if people wish to buy it.
 
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popunder said:
I'm sure the chocolates are good but you're mostly paying for the packaging, and on close inspection I'm not sure it's worth the price tag when you can get something like this for £75. Having said that, Harrods + crystals + gold-covered chocolates sounds like a winner so I wish you luck.
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it's just a nice little gift, you are buying the illusion of something special to make someone feel good.
I like it.
 
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JDX_John said:
Of course its not "worth" that amount - it's a pure ostentatious luxury. But there is nothing wrong with that if people wish to buy it.
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I agree but there's a difference between "luxury packaging" and "a white carboard box with glass beads glued on it" which might look luxurious on a website but be vastly underwhelming when handled or given to (presumably) someone very special as a gift. I just wonder where this item fits on that scale.
 
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Wow - what a long thread this has become, especially bearing in mind that 36 posts have been removed!
Anyhow....... congratulations on your achievements to date. You have an incredibly high end product obviously aimed at the indulgent luxury market; you already know your costs and have a RRP ..... if Harrods have sought you out, then they clearly already think your RRP is going to fit with what their target customer base, they like your product, your packaging, your concept and the branding so you are already on to winner.
I can only begin to imagine how excited you must be - the cudos of stocking your product in Harrods is something most of us can only dream about! Well done and good luck
 
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deniser said:
1. minimum and maximum order quantities overall
2. minimum quantity per item
3. shipping cost and carriage paid order amounts
4. delivery timescales
5. shelf life
6. ingredients
7. compliance with legislation
8. whether you can offer them own label (they do this quite a lot)
9. packaging
10. price (which may vary according to quantity)
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Why not put all that information into a pdf and pre-send it. That way at the meeting all she is doing is mopping up anything left they have
 
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doodles of Tadley said:
Wow - what a long thread this has become, especially bearing in mind that 36 posts have been removed!
Anyhow....... congratulations on your achievements to date. You have an incredibly high end product obviously aimed at the indulgent luxury market; you already know your costs and have a RRP ..... if Harrods have sought you out, then they clearly already think your RRP is going to fit with what their target customer base, they like your product, your packaging, your concept and the branding so you are already on to winner.
I can only begin to imagine how excited you must be - the cudos of stocking your product in Harrods is something most of us can only dream about! Well done and good luck
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I just want to know how it all went - then I'm sending the other half in to buy some for me.

Sorry about the missing posts, some of that was my fault as I was feeding the trolls on Saturday night and I really should know better.
 
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I'm a big fan of Artisan du Chocolat and luxury chocolates and similar treats obviously have a place in the market. Best of luck with your venture!
 
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