I’ve launched a marketplace for very small food + bev and kitchen goods makers to reach a wider audience. My background is in marketing and I have been doing a pretty good job at driving traffic for basically free but my conversion rate is absolute shite.
I know these products arent for everyone as they are a bit on the pricey side but from what I can tell I am driving the right customers (major US metro areas, 25-40 year olds)
I’m looking for some feedback on what could be causing such poor conversion rates.
Any feedback appreciated!
If you’re going for a target audience that plans to spend this amount for aristian products, I think the colors should be a bit warmer. The colors look like something I would expect from a cheaper, simpler product, like bulk solo cup purchases for parties. I think the products are actually kind of cool and I could see them in my rustic apartment, but the presentation doesn’t fit the product.
On a side note, the blog link on your footer is broken. I don’t think this is affecting you at all, but I just wanted to mention it!
Good luck on your journey!
Edit: I dont think your prices are too high, especially if your audience is who I imagine they are. I think the website looks like you aren’t selling to that audience.
You are priced too high
This. The target market spending that much on luxury goods is small. Throw in the COL crisis many people are facing and they simply won’t splurge here vs other areas. Add in the expiry dates on consumables and its smaller again.
If the margins allow it, throw a universal sale on the site to drive impulse buying. I’d start around 15% and see the impact from there.
I’m in your target audience and I think you’re off to a really good start. You’re definitely offering some interesting and fun products and, in my opinion, the prices are reasonable for your target.
I just have a few thoughts on the site:
- I definitely second adding calls to action and testimonials or little quotes around the site. Something to tell the customer right away why your products are different, like “sustainably produced” or “small batch/single origin” stickers on thumbnails. A shipping discount or freebie with first-time orders could also help establish your site within your target audience.
- Love the personal stories! Definitely add more of those as you add more artisans to your shop. People will pay higher prices when there are emotions behind their purchase. Adding photos of the artisan to each product listing would be really fun too.
- For the foods, sample boxes could be a hit! Since the brands are new to customers, let people try them out and give a small discount to repurchase? In the same vein as above, maybe offering random free samples with certain order amounts if it’s feasible with your business model (maybe like a free chocolate bar with $50 coffee purchase or a free tote with a $100 kitchen purchase, you get the idea and it could cross-promote your items).
- To be nitpicky- it would be easier to navigate the site if there was a drop-down menu when you hover over the “shop all” link in the nav bar that shows all of the product categories. Clicking through each page to narrow down product options is a bit monotonous and doesn’t show the customer all available options in one place. For example, I can’t see the food categories while on the kitchen items page nor can I easily navigate between the two. I hope that makes sense, but basically, you just want to make it as simple as possible to order and customers can be lazy.
Don’t be afraid to make a lot of little tweaks to see what works :) I actually really love your idea and you have a good foundation to build on! Good luck!!
You didn’t give us nearly enough information to give you any type of actually useful answer.
How much traffic are you generating? What is the conversion rate? 25-40 means almost nothing without knowing if they’re male or female, without knowing their income level, household size, demographic makeup, etc.
25-40 might be great, it also might be trash. Age range means almost nothing.
Are you doing follow-up advertising of some kind? Retargeting? Email followups? SMS?
You have a very niche product, you’re probably going to have to go after a very niche audience - that’s likely going to require very targeted advertising if you want to see higher conversion rates.
If these are also truly handcrafted items, why aren’t you highlighting the makers more prominently? I know nothing about where the items came from, who I’m supporting, why they’re better than something I could get from Etsy, or even Temu, or why the pricing is what it is.
For example, your confetti cutting board. Is the product made by hand? Does it use recycled materials? Are there any reasons it’s worth spending $42 on a piece of plastic that I could get for probably $5 elsewhere? Is the product being handcrafted, using recycled materials, sourced through a specific community? Are kids bringing in plastic bottles to a teacher, who is then using the bottle tops to create cutting boards to raise funds to help their kids in some way or another?
Also, some of your descriptions are… worrysome.
Coasters that can’t be soaked in water? What the hell is the point of having a coaster that you can’t have soaked in water? That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
Maybe you mean it shouldn’t be left completely submerged for more than X amount of time, but as someone who lives in an area with very high humidity - the only reason I use a coaster is to catch all the water from the condensation on the outside of my glasses.
Basically - you’re not justifying your prices with the reason why. Build the story behind each product, why the supplier was chosen, why the product is worth the money, etc.
Finally - one picture of each product? Are you kidding me?
Where are the pictures of the products in their natural setting? There’s a reason that companies like Ikea show compete, staged rooms in their magazines - you need to show people what the product will look like in use, in their homes. It needs to aspirational, so that people will buy hoping to achieve that same look.