FINAL PRESENTATION
Wedding planning simplified
Rachael Vile
Helping to avoid those “Bridezilla” moments….
ELEVATOR PITCH
“Over a quarter of a million couples marry in the UK every year. Currently, when those couples start planning their wedding it’s a case of trawling through wedding directory websites, leaflets collected from fairs, emailing people and making dozens of phone calls. It’s easy to lose track of the suppliers who you have and haven’t contacted, who’s available and who’s got back to you with prices. My idea is for an online wedding planning tool where you’d simply enter your date and preferred location, which alerts wedding suppliers in that area with your details. The suppliers get back to you via the tool, with everything organised neatly into categories. If you book any services via the platform, it would take a percentage commission from the supplier. It’s a win-win product as it saves the couple loads of time and effort, and gives suppliers easy access to new customers who are ready and willing to part with their cash.”
£3,309,584,000 Number of weddings in UK x average wedding day spend
Sources: Brides Magazine; ONS
STARTING POINT: MY ASSUMPTIONS
1: that engaged couples want a simpler way of planning their wedding
2: that wedding suppliers would like to get more business (and that they would use my platform to find customers!)
VALIDATING THE IDEA – CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS
o Customer vs User
o The Customers: Wedding Suppliers
• Florists x 4
• Hairdressers x 2
• Cake shop x 1
• Venue x 1
o The Users: Friends currently planning weddings
• Jayne, Laura, Beth, Lucy, Caroline, Kate, Aoife
PERSONA: CUSTOMER
“I love providing flowers for weddings as it’s enjoyable and generates a good income. I’d like to get more wedding bookings but I don’t have the time or knowledge to advertise”.
Hilda… o Is not particularly tech-savvy (limited to emailing and browsing internet) o Works with her hands all day and can’t spend too much time at a
computer o Relies on customers finding her through word of mouth o Does not currently advertise her services online
Hilda Female Age 60
Lives: Buckinghamshire Profession: Florist
PERSONA: USER
“I’m planning my wedding at the moment and am quite overwhelmed with the choice. I’d like to be able to compare wedding supplier options easily and choose what’s best for me”.
Beth… o Has a full time, demanding job o Is a competent user of technology – has smartphone, tablet and laptop o Has a budget in mind but will probably overspend o Does not want to use the services of a traditional wedding planner o Relies on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family
Beth Female Age 31
Lives: London Profession: Scientist
USER STORIES
As a... I would like
to… So that…
Couple getting married Search for wedding suppliers
I can find ones available for my dates
See reviews of wedding suppliers
I can pick those that are reliable
See price quotes from wedding suppliers
I can keep within my budget
Organise messages from suppliers into categories/pinboard
I can keep track easily of who’s contacted me
Wedding supplier Receive emails alerting me to potential customers
I don’t have to spend time on marketing
BUSINESS MODEL DESIGN – LEAN CANVAS
Cost Structure
• Marketing costs – educating and acquiring customers
• Servers to host platform
• Developer costs
Revenue Streams
• Free trial – first booking free
• Then 5% commission based on value of booking
Problem
• Wedding planning
stressful
• Too much choice
• Few reviews
available online of
independent
suppliers
• Wedding suppliers
struggle to find new
customers
Solution
• Website or app
which allows
couples and
wedding suppliers to
easily find one
another and
organise quotes
Key Metrics
• Number of suppliers
signed up
• Number of bookings
made
Unique Value
Proposition
• Rather than
spending hours
trawling through
different websites,
couples can search
in one place and
have suppliers come
to them.
• Suppliers get easy
access to hot leads
for new business.
Unfair Advantage
• Low risk marketing
strategy for wedding
suppliers – they only
pay when the
customer books (vs
traditional
subscription model)
Channels
• Wedding fairs
• Magazines
• Banner ads
• Journalists?
Customer
Segments
• Newly engaged
couples at start of
wedding planning
process
• Independent
wedding suppliers
PRODUCT MARKET
MARKET SIZING
o Average cost of wedding day: £12,632*
o Number of UK weddings 2012: 262,000**
o .’. Total UK wedding day spend per year = £3,309,584,000 (TAM)
• Different revenue predictions based on varying the commission, number of users and amount spent:
Sources: *Brides Magazine; **ONS
Variables
Commission on bookings via
website 5% 10% 15%
Value of services booked £3,000 £5,000 £10,000
Number of users 10,000 25,000 50,000
How much could it make?
Per wedding: £150 £500 £1,500 Per year: £1,500,000 £12,500,000 £75,000,000
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Confetti.co.uk, hitched.co.uk, theknot.com
etc
weddingquotes2U .co.uk
Wedding fair Traditional
(human) wedding planner
My Platform
Cost to user Free Free ££ ££££££ Free
Cost to supplier
£/££/£££ (Basic/
Enhanced/ premium sign up options – annual fee)
From £1.50 per enquiry (CPA)
Stand fees - £££ n/a % of booking
value
Site design Cluttered Outdated n/a n/a Clean
Who does legwork?
User Supplier User – literally on their feet
Wedding planner/user
Website does it
How does user collate information?
Click links to supplier
websites, contact them by email or
phone
Email only – no login for user on
site
Leaflets, business cards,
website addresses,
freebies
Phone/email
Folio in “My Wedding”
section. Organised by supplier type
WIREFRAME – LANDING PAGE
WIREFRAME 2 – RESULTS PAGE/DASHBOARD
NEXT STEPS?
o Test MVP – Wizard of Oz method
o Determine limits of how much commission suppliers would pay in order to maximise revenue
o Plan roadmap – add new features
APPENDIX: SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths • Simpler product to what’s
currently available • Convenience – “one stop
shop” • Potential for special offers –
could work out cheaper than booking direct. Incentive to use product
Weaknesses • No technical know how • New to market – no
reputation • No capital/investment
Opportunities • Wedding industry value • Diversify – not just
weddings
Threats • Established competitors • Change in customer
spending habits – less cash to spend on wedding
• Product can be easily copied