Idea: eCommerce "Value Skew" Ideation Tool

[openwater]

Hi all - if you get a moment, your vote / feedback on this product idea would be incredibly helpful.

High-Level Idea

This website aggregates real-world data on existing consumer needs in the eCommerce marketplace.

(Leaving this relatively high-level to not explain the secret sauce in too much detail.)

Target Audience

The ideal customer is an eCommerce entrepreneur trying to find their value skew, or an existing company looking to broaden their portfolio / sharpen their existing products.

Unique Selling Proposition

My research hasn't turned up a company doing this specifically. The closest I can find is fill-in-the-blank "idea generation" websites or blog posts. This website will instead be automatically updated and relevant.

Is there a need?

Do you think this idea is worth pursuing, with the first step of creating a barebones MVP?

One concern is the lack of existing competitors already selling something like this. If there aren't competitors, there may not be a need.

I'm quite new to this process - any advice or feedback is much appreciated. If this does look to be a good idea, I'm also happy to start a progress thread on the milestones for this project.

Thank you!

 

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[alexkuzmov]

Hi all - if you get a moment, your vote / feedback on this product idea would be incredibly helpful.

High-Level Idea

This website aggregates real-world data on existing consumer needs in the eCommerce marketplace.

(Leaving this relatively high-level to not explain the secret sauce in too much detail.)

Target Audience

The ideal customer is an eCommerce entrepreneur trying to find their value skew, or an existing company looking to broaden their portfolio / sharpen their existing products.

Unique Selling Proposition

My research hasn't turned up a company doing this specifically. The closest I can find is fill-in-the-blank "idea generation" websites or blog posts. This website will instead be automatically updated and relevant.

Is there a need?

Do you think this idea is worth pursuing, with the first step of creating a barebones MVP?

One concern is the lack of existing competitors already selling something like this. If there aren't competitors, there may not be a need.

I'm quite new to this process - any advice or feedback is much appreciated. If this does look to be a good idea, I'm also happy to start a progress thread on the milestones for this project.

Thank you!

Not sure I even understand what your idea is.

If I give you money, what will you give me in return?

 

[openwater]

Not sure I even understand what your idea is.

If I give you money, what will you give me in return?

Fair enough - I'm sacrificing clarity in exchange for trying to protect my completely unexecuted idea. My bad.

You'll be able to access the site for free - no payment to me. In return, you'll be able to see the top needs of the marketplace for a product category of your choosing.

For example, you can select "Jewelry", and see the summarized desires of buyers in the market for jewelry.

Top Desires in Jewelry (making these up):

1. Fair trade
2. Custom sizing
3. Sterling silver bands

Does this help?

 

[AceVentures]

This website aggregates real-world data on existing consumer needs in the eCommerce marketplace.

One concern is the lack of existing competitors already selling something like this. If there aren't competitors, there may not be a need.

Not trying to get to your secret sauce, but maybe the reason your competitors haven't done this is because: how do you qualify and quantify customer needs in a marketplace?

If I said hey im an ecom entrepreneur, and I want ideas. I'm interested in idk, say creating custom tools for plumbers. I would check the plumbing category, and your website would tell me what plumbers want and need, and what I should invent to help them?

 

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[openwater]

Not trying to get to your secret sauce, but maybe the reason your competitors haven't done this is because: how do you qualify and quantify customer needs in a marketplace?

If I said hey im an ecom entrepreneur, and I want ideas. I'm interested in idk, say creating custom tools for plumbers. I would check the plumbing category, and your website would tell me what plumbers want and need, and what I should invent to help them?

Interesting - so maybe the lack of competition is just because it's a tough nut to crack?

At a high-level, the system would leverage natural language processing to curate data from various sources.

In your example of the tools for plumbers - that's exactly right. It'll (attempt to) tell you the current desires of your target customers (plumbers). This is where good execution would need to come in to play.

But before executing it would be good to know if this is a pain point for entrepreneurs/small businesses or if they already have a method for evaluating these kinds of needs.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

It's not really a value skew tool though.

It just identifies trends, which could be useful for initial ideas, but the entrepreneur would still have to conduct further analysis to confirm.

Can you provide an example of what your tool can do?

I want to sell dog grooming products to salons.
Better yet, dog health supplements to owners.

 

[openwater]

It's not really a value skew tool though.

It just identifies trends, which could be useful for initial ideas, but the entrepreneur would still have to conduct further analysis to confirm.

Can you provide an example of what your tool can do?

I want to sell dog grooming products to salons.
Better yet, dog health supplements to owners.

As an aside - thank you and the above posters, this is very helpful in refining the idea.

Taking your dog health supplements example - the results will show the competing products in your category, let's say:

• Brand A - Omega-3 Soft Chew Vitamins
• Brand B - Natural Hip and Joint Supplement
• Brand C - General Dog Multivitamin

It will also tell you which features of these products are doing well (value for $, high-quality ingredients) and which are doing poorly (bad packaging, strange odor).

The value skew comes from analyzing positive and negative feedback on these products to inform which direction you should take to differentiate your new/existing product.

Perhaps given the above, you're now aware that your customers care about having a pleasant odor and more bang for their buck. You now know to directly target these features/benefits during product development / copy writing.

 

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[alexkuzmov]

Fair enough - I'm sacrificing clarity in exchange for trying to protect my completely unexecuted idea. My bad.

You'll be able to access the site for free - no payment to me. In return, you'll be able to see the top needs of the marketplace for a product category of your choosing.

For example, you can select "Jewelry", and see the summarized desires of buyers in the market for jewelry.

Top Desires in Jewelry (making these up):

1. Fair trade
2. Custom sizing
3. Sterling silver bands

Does this help?

So all of it is for free?

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

As an aside - thank you and the above posters, this is very helpful in refining the idea.

Taking your dog health supplements example - the results will show the competing products in your category, let's say:

• Brand A - Omega-3 Soft Chew Vitamins
• Brand B - Natural Hip and Joint Supplement
• Brand C - General Dog Multivitamin

It will also tell you which features of these products are doing well (value for $, high-quality ingredients) and which are doing poorly (bad packaging, strange odor).

The value skew comes from analyzing positive and negative feedback on these products to inform which direction you should take to differentiate your new/existing product.

Perhaps given the above, you're now aware that your customers care about having a pleasant odor and more bang for their buck. You now know to directly target these features/benefits during product development / copy writing.

What other information could it provide?
Things like dollar value products sold worldwide, by region...
Size of niche & geographic locations of customers, demographics...
Just spitballing here

 

[openwater]

So all of it is for free?

Yes that's the plan. In this free model, revenue comes from ads / affiliate links.

Alternatively, if the free model is not viable, there can be a model where you get access to a free tier with an optional up-sell to more in-depth analytics, or 30 days of full access before requiring payment.

I think the revenue model depends heavily on how people use the site.

 

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[openwater]

What other information could it provide?
Things like dollar value products sold worldwide, by region...
Size of niche & geographic locations of customers, demographics...
Just spitballing here

Great ideas! I think these metrics would be valuable.

I'm initially unsure where to find data like this - perhaps would have to pay for it, which is not necessarily a bad option.

There are probably sneaky ways of estimating these figures through publicly available data. Or even better, from the eCommerce stores themselves.

I suppose the trick is figuring out which 20% of metrics provide 80% of the value for the users.

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

Great ideas! I think these metrics would be valuable.

I'm initially unsure where to find data like this - perhaps would have to pay for it, which is not necessarily a bad option.

There are probably sneaky ways of estimating these figures through publicly available data. Or even better, from the eCommerce stores themselves.

I suppose the trick is figuring out which 20% of metrics provide 80% of the value for the users.

If you can provide reliable data I think people would pay because it seems that finding the right niche & product is a stumbling block for many would be e-commerce entrepreneurs.

 

[openwater]

If you can provide reliable data I think people would pay because it seems that finding the right niche & product is a stumbling block for many would be e-commerce entrepreneurs.

Valuable insight - which may also influence how the revenue model is set up. Thank you!

 

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[Ceremony05]

Hi all - if you get a moment, your vote / feedback on this product idea would be incredibly helpful.

High-Level Idea

This website aggregates real-world data on existing consumer needs in the eCommerce marketplace.

(Leaving this relatively high-level to not explain the secret sauce in too much detail.)

Target Audience

The ideal customer is an eCommerce entrepreneur trying to find their value skew, or an existing company looking to broaden their portfolio / sharpen their existing products.

Unique Selling Proposition

My research hasn't turned up a company doing this specifically. The closest I can find is fill-in-the-blank "idea generation" websites or blog posts. This website will instead be automatically updated and relevant.

Is there a need?

Do you think this idea is worth pursuing, with the first step of creating a barebones MVP?

One concern is the lack of existing competitors already selling something like this. If there aren't competitors, there may not be a need.

I'm quite new to this process - any advice or feedback is much appreciated. If this does look to be a good idea, I'm also happy to start a progress thread on the milestones for this project.

Thank you!

I think instead of trying to summarise all data you get from customer ,you should directly give customers feedback. Mostly people have hard times getting valuable feedback from any spesific custumor not anylyzing feedback. (At least that was my problem) .

 

[openwater]

I think instead of trying to summarise all data you get from customer ,you should directly give customers feedback. Mostly people have hard times getting valuable feedback from any spesific custumor not anylyzing feedback. (At least that was my problem) .

Very interesting!

So perhaps there's functionality to "follow" your brand and see specifically what kind of feedback your products are getting.

Even more advanced would be soliciting feedback through the site itself... maybe some kind of survey comparing your product to competitor products.

I like this... sounds like a "Premium" feature!

 

[openwater]

Thank you all for the insight/feedback. It's been incredibly helpful.

If I were doing this "by the book" I suppose the next step would be to set up a landing page with email sign up and point some ad spending at it, and see the conversion rate.

However, web development in general is a big gap in my skillset. I think I need to accept the risk of an unvalidated idea so that I can move forward and learn web basics for a site like this. In fact, if this ends up being a bad idea, I won't feel as bad mucking up the execution with my shitty coding skills.

To summarize, my next steps are:

1. Learn some basic Django and React, just enough to set up a web page that can display some of what we discussed above (MVP).
2. Create a barebones API that will curate the necessary content and feed the website.
3. Start a progress thread here so my mistakes can become someone else's head starts

My guess is #1 and #2 will take longer than I'm expecting. But once those skillsets are in place, iterating and creating new ideas down the line will be much simpler / faster.

I will also say - the "growth mindset" discussion in Unscripted has been a big eye-opener/motivator. In the past this whole project would have ended with "I'm not a web developer". But instead here I am trying to become one in the hours before work.

Off my soapbox to get started on the journey. Thanks again for the help!

 

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[tonibob]

Yes that's the plan. In this free model, revenue comes from ads / affiliate links.

Alternatively, if the free model is not viable, there can be a model where you get access to a free tier with an optional up-sell to more in-depth analytics, or 30 days of full access before requiring payment.

I think the revenue model depends heavily on how people use the site.

@openwater I don't think that putting ads is good idea, as if the website is mainly used by entrepreneurs they would not be happy seeing competing brands advertising on your website or it could create conflict of interests as well. Say I am looking for dog food info etc and Pedigree ad comes up with their god product similar to what I am looking for! I am not going to like it or trust your info or the sources! You will be better off with access/membership fees etc. as this way everybody will know how you support the website and that the information is pure!
My two cents, I could be wrong of course

 

[openwater]

I am not going to like it or trust your info or the sources! You will be better off with access/membership fees etc. as this way everybody will know how you support the website and that the information is pure!

Wow! I hadn't thought of it this way. As someone new at this, I have an unreasonable and unconscious bias against asking people directly for money - what if I can't live up to their expectations? What if I don't provide enough value? What if....?

But your insight that membership fees could help provide transparency and trust between both parties is a great one I hadn't considered. I'll need to think hard on this. Thanks for the input!

 

[Boychamp]

As someone new at this, I have an unreasonable and unconscious bias against asking people directly for money - what if I can't live up to their expectations? What if I don't provide enough value? What if....?

First off, I find the idea intriguing. I think there's definitely a way you could make something work. Not sure what the end product would look like, but you're onto something interesting IMO.

As for the quoted part, if people don't find value or if it doesn't live up to their expectations, they won't pay for it and they'll let you know. Simple as that. The marketplace will put you in your place so don't worry about this. If you're seriously concerned about it, have a generous refund policy.

 

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[openwater]

First off, I find the idea intriguing. I think there's definitely a way you could make something work. Not sure what the end product would look like, but you're onto something interesting IMO.

Awesome! That is great to hear. I think at this point the idea seems to hold its own weight, and value will now come from refining and executing on it. I'll be sure to post here when there's an MVP to check out for those interested.

As for the quoted part, if people don't find value or if it doesn't live up to their expectations, they won't pay for it and they'll let you know. Simple as that. The marketplace will put you in your place so don't worry about this. If you're seriously concerned about it, have a generous refund policy.

This really clicks with me - and the idea of offering a refund is already relieving the fear of under-delivery. I wouldn't have thought of this, thank you for the idea!

 

[Jasper S]

Thank you all for the insight/feedback. It's been incredibly helpful.

If I were doing this "by the book" I suppose the next step would be to set up a landing page with email sign up and point some ad spending at it, and see the conversion rate.

However, web development in general is a big gap in my skillset. I think I need to accept the risk of an unvalidated idea so that I can move forward and learn web basics for a site like this. In fact, if this ends up being a bad idea, I won't feel as bad mucking up the execution with my shitty coding skills.

To summarize, my next steps are:

1. Learn some basic Django and React, just enough to set up a web page that can display some of what we discussed above (MVP).
2. Create a barebones API that will curate the necessary content and feed the website.
3. Start a progress thread here so my mistakes can become someone else's head starts

My guess is #1 and #2 will take longer than I'm expecting. But once those skillsets are in place, iterating and creating new ideas down the line will be much simpler / faster.

I will also say - the "growth mindset" discussion in Unscripted has been a big eye-opener/motivator. In the past this whole project would have ended with "I'm not a web developer". But instead here I am trying to become one in the hours before work.

Off my soapbox to get started on the journey. Thanks again for the help!

I love the growth mindset here!

Back in October I started learning Django primarily to increase my own skill set. I had previously learned a little bit of HTML and CSS. While I was learning Django I began putting together my first website. I had to learn a bit of JavaScript as well along the way, but by February I had (what I believe to be) a useful MVP and by April I had launched it.

Django is incredibly helpful in so many ways, but it can also be tricky and tedious in others. As you learn how to use it I would highly recommend writing down the steps on how to do certain tasks. This has helped me immensely as I continue working on my current project as well as working on others.

 

[fastlanedoll]

In reply to your original question: Absolutely

 

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[openwater]

I love the growth mindset here!

Thanks! The mindset shift has been a complete game changer. Grateful to the book for pointing out the science-backed studies that made it click with me.

Back in October I started learning Django primarily to increase my own skill set. I had previously learned a little bit of HTML and CSS. While I was learning Django I began putting together my first website. I had to learn a bit of JavaScript as well along the way, but by February I had (what I believe to be) a useful MVP and by April I had launched it.

Congrats on the MVP, that is awesome! Very inspiring to hear that you were able to fully execute on your idea. I would certainly be interested to take a look if at some point you'd like to share/PM it.

Django is incredibly helpful in so many ways, but it can also be tricky and tedious in others. As you learn how to use it I would highly recommend writing down the steps on how to do certain tasks. This has helped me immensely as I continue working on my current project as well as working on others.

Agreed - already running into this. The idea of keeping a checklist for the future is golden. Going to start one now - thank you!

 

[openwater]

In reply to your original question: Absolutely

Awesome, good to hear!

Given yours and others' responses, my next step is to execute on an MVP. It may take a little while but I'll be sure to report back when it happens. Thank you!

 

[Vadim26]

I think this idea has a lot of potential if executed right.

I really like it!

You don’t need to know any programming or coding to set up a landing page. You can use “Unbounce” to have the basic landing page set up. It’s very easy to use, but costs quite a bit - about 100 a month.

You can get your “MVP landing page” in a matter of days. I would suggest spending more time so you can make a nice looking page with slick graphics and all the features listed. You don’t want to burn money on a page that doesn’t convert.

Have an email sign up button with an attractive offer (be the first to access, for example) that leads to a short survey where you ask people WHO they are, WHY and WHAT exactly would the be interested in your idea. Only include a survey after an email request, as people would more likely to complete it after complying with your first request (email).

A month of doing this and 500-1000 USD spent will give you an exact answer you are looking for and a nice email list who you can launch to, to get even further feedback.

I only recommend this approach if you have money to spare. It’s just one of the many ways, but it has worked wonders for me.

 

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[openwater]

I think this idea has a lot of potential if executed right.

I really like it!

Very glad to hear this, appreciate your reviewing the idea! It's promising that yourself and a few others have commented positively. I definitely am moving forward with it. Execution now is the critical piece.

You don’t need to know any programming or coding to set up a landing page. You can use “Unbounce” to have the basic landing page set up. It’s very easy to use, but costs quite a bit - about 100 a month.

You can get your “MVP landing page” in a matter of days. I would suggest spending more time so you can make a nice looking page with slick graphics and all the features listed. You don’t want to burn money on a page that doesn’t convert.

Have an email sign up button with an attractive offer (be the first to access, for example) that leads to a short survey where you ask people WHO they are, WHY and WHAT exactly would the be interested in your idea. Only include a survey after an email request, as people would more likely to complete it after complying with your first request (email).

A month of doing this and 500-1000 USD spent will give you an exact answer you are looking for and a nice email list who you can launch to, to get even further feedback.

I only recommend this approach if you have money to spare. It’s just one of the many ways, but it has worked wonders for me.

This is seriously valuable advice, thank you for the detailed write-up. I especially like the idea of having a post-email-sign-up survey.

I'll work this into the product development timeline so that the folks on the email list don't wait too long to see an actual MVP come their way.

Really got me thinking here - lots more to consider. Thanks again for opening my mind to taking action on this!

 

[LordGanon]

I really don't see how you add more value than a simple Google search. I really just don't see it.

 

[openwater]

I really don't see how you add more value than a simple Google search. I really just don't see it.

Gotcha, thanks for the feedback. Can I ask what you'd Google to find similar info?

 

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