Thank you for your support. This is Orcel Saito.
I have been consulting for many e-commerce clients for 15 years.
If we roughly divide online shop customers into two groups,
・Those who sell purchased products
・Those who sell their own brand products
There are people like you.
I think each of these concerns can be broadly divided into two patterns.
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<For those with their own brand>
[Pattern A]
There is no brand recognition, so sales are low.
It's a great product that rivals any other brand.
[Pattern B]
There is brand recognition.
However, due to relationships with business partners (wholesalers and agents), we are unable to lower prices.
Restricting business partners would be a violation of the Antimonopoly Act.
Even though it's my own product, I can't sell it freely.
<For those purchasing products>
[Pattern C]
The manufacturer regulates the selling price, so the price cannot be lowered.
On the other hand, there are many rivals, some of whom are cheating.
But I can't move freely.
[Pattern D]
The manufacturer does not regulate the selling price.
So, everyone is competing to lower prices, and they have no choice but to lower their prices.
Combined with the weak yen, there is no profit at all.
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These can roughly be divided into four patterns, what do you think?
And from these patterns, we can derive the ideal pattern for a successful business.
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<Own brand>
[E pattern]
Establish brand power without relying on business partners.
And then, they can freely develop their e-commerce business.
<Purchased Products>
[F pattern]
We have exclusive agency contracts or strong positions within agencies with brands that have strong brand power and with which we can build deep relationships of trust.
And we will freely develop our e-commerce business without being bound by issues of price or rivals.
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This may seem like a pipe dream, but most successful ECs fall into either pattern E or F.
So how do we get to these patterns?
For example, if you have a client who is a company with their own brand, you can first limit the products and create an E-pattern market.
For those purchasing, you will need to develop new suppliers or make sales efforts to secure exclusive access.
E-commerce techniques such as advertising, SEO, and design are important, but sometimes the solution can be found more quickly by thinking about a higher-level business scheme.
Our consulting services not only provide e-commerce know-how, but also go beyond that to provide support for business schemes, which is a selling point.