Product curation as a differentiator

[pumpking]

Hi all,

In thinking about solving needs and bringing value in an e-commerce business, the question came to mind recently... is curation of products in a store in and of itself enough of a value skew to create a moat? Implicitly, "We have the stuff you love, all in one place, shop here." I've actually seen examples of this at some BM businesses, usually smaller scale artisan type places. Not sure how "fastlane" those businesses really are though.

In any case, do those principles even apply in an online business?

Curious to hear your thoughts!

 

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[PizzaOnTheRoof]

What's stopping someone else from "curating" the same products?

You've gotta have an edge...a secret sauce...

Just look at subscription boxes. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them now, all "curating" products for their customers.

And yet you can probably only think of half a dozen or so off the top of your head...

Why is that?

 

[pumpking]

What's stopping someone else from "curating" the same products?

You've gotta have an edge...a secret sauce...

Just look at subscription boxes. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them now, all "curating" products for their customers.

And yet you can probably only think of half a dozen or so off the top of your head...

Why is that?

Yeah, I agree, it would seem that it's a bad business idea. But it also seems to work. For the sake of discussion, I'll offer Poketo (Poketo | Art & Design For Your Every Day) as an example. From what I can see (and what I've read from interviews with the owners), the store is almost entirely (carefully) curated products from artists and small time entrepreneurs who would otherwise be working out of Etsy. They've built out a pretty strong brand of primary colored products with a modern "MUJI" style.

Just trying to understand what their IP really is.

 

[Kid]

Something like https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/ ?

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

I went in with the same premise on one of our ecomm stores. Turns out we were wrong, and we shifted our focus to what people were searching for. That data is there.

People aren't looking for "everything." They're looking for X.

Google has already curated every product ever in existence.

 

[pumpking]

I went in with the same premise on one of our ecomm stores. Turns out we were wrong, and we shifted our focus to what people were searching for. That data is there.

People aren't looking for "everything." They're looking for X.

Google has already curated every product ever in existence.

That's good feedback. Are you referring to Google Trends, or another tool?

 

[PizzaOnTheRoof]

That's good feedback. Are you referring to Google Trends, or another tool?

I think he’s referring to their algorithm.

Yeah, I agree, it would seem that it's a bad business idea. But it also seems to work. For the sake of discussion, I'll offer Poketo (Poketo | Art & Design For Your Every Day) as an example. From what I can see (and what I've read from interviews with the owners), the store is almost entirely (carefully) curated products from artists and small time entrepreneurs who would otherwise be working out of Etsy. They've built out a pretty strong brand of primary colored products with a modern "MUJI" style.

Just trying to understand what their IP really is.

I see more branding, marketing, and targeting than simply product curation.

I looked through the store and not once did I get the impression that these products are from artists and Etsy sellers. They look like a product line from a brand called POKETO.

That may be true, and good for them for helping out artists, but at first glance it’s not what makes the engine crank.

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

That's good feedback. Are you referring to Google Trends, or another tool?

No this is our own data. People weren't browsing. Every person that came on to our site were looking for a specific item. Then we cross referenced it with keyword data to figure out what to focus on, in terms of polishing the listing.

 

[amp0193]

Yes it is, but it has to be an underserved niche.

I almost started a site in my space selling nothing but other branded products.

The key benefit was going to be discovery. I was going to bring in brands from all over Europe that no one had heard of and put them all in one place and make them accessible.

Still is a good idea, I just can’t justify the time to spend on it