THESISPROGRESS WEEK 2

BONA KIMITP | NYU | CLASS 2013

Tuesday, February 19, 13

PROGRESS WEEK 2

• Interviews

• Insights

• Product Development Cycle

• Keywords

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INTERVIEWS

TRAVELER 1

Taste MakerEx-Buyer

Business Analyst

TRAVELER 2

Luxury TravelerSavvy ShopperProgrammer

TRAVELER 3

ExplorerMission

Interactive Music

EXPAT

Japan/ItalyProduct

Development

MERCHANT

Founder of Craftspring

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INTERVIEWS

• Previous assumption of a potential user• Not interested in buying goods while traveling and selling it • Too much hassle and just not interested• Don’t want to bother anything while she’s on vacation • She doesn’t need additional financial support for travel cost

• As a consumer she would be interested in buying directly from the artisans and not from travelers

• the consumers would feel like they are traveling themselves by discovering these artisans themselves. 

• She’s not interested in reading about other people’s experience and think many are just interested in their own travel

• maybe travelers can be advocates of these regions and artisans but not selling the items themselves

• In terms of business perspective, minimizing liability • First capture the artisans with the lowest entry barrier. 

TRAVELER 1

Taste MakerEx-Buyer in fashion retailCurrently a business analystTravels occasion for vacationStayed overs for 6+monthslast year for business

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INTERVIEWS

• Travels to developed countries only• Previous travel locations include Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy,

Spain, France, Canada and etc• She wants to travel developing countries as well but is worried

about the safety and sanitation• While traveling she mostly shops brand items that are cheaper

in that region or occasionally buys unique beautiful craft items

• Have an experience of buying something while traveling and sold it 1)to a friend 2) on a specialty website/ school intranet

• She would do it for items that will yield high margin • Mostly worried about items not sold and thus will only do

luxury brand items

• She’s not interested in making money off of this kind of activityTRAVELER 2

Luxury TravelerSavvy ShopperProgrammerTravels 2-3 times a year

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INTERVIEWS

• Main purpose of travel is exploration of other culture• Past travel locations include Uganda, Mexico, Malaysia,

Singapore, Puerto Rico and etc• Travels 3-4 times a year since 2 years ago• Back packing, education trip, mid budget trip with friends

• Unlike how it’s portrayed on media, she didn’t feel the lack of safety and want to be an advocate for the countries she’s been

• She might use the platform but doesn’t think it’s enough to fully support the budget of the travel

• Consumer would want reasonable price and the seller would want enough margin to make it worthwhile

• Would do it for friends. Found exquisite African drums her friends would die for but didn’t bring them back

• wouldn't do it just for monetary incentives but would do for friends and family to share good items with people I care about

TRAVELER 3

ExplorerTraveled for education/ mission purpose as wellInteractive Music

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INTERVIEWS

• Thinks expats can be the main user of the platform due to the knowledge of the region, no language barrier, no time crunch

• Never sold anything herself but blogged about cool Japanese fashion brands US consumers were not familiar with

• More interested in information gathering

• Return & exchange overseas may be a headache

• Finding the right consumer/ marketing is not easy

• Expats with good cause in mind in developing countries or non profit organization might be a good target sellersEXPAT

Lived Japan and Italy as an expat for 1 year eachProduct developmentFashion PR

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INTERVIEWS

• Founder and CEO of Craft Spring• the lack of steady, year-round sales opportunities and access to

socially conscious consumers willing and ready to support master artisans

• Buying process - give the artisans initial funding for materials• SHE IS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN PROCESS• very heavy and slow cash flow, high cash risk• A lot of overstock and seasonal items• No online shop only wholesale• Looking for the right online platform possibly Etsy or Zuilily• Currently Etsy doesn’t let merchants to sell

• she thinks utilizing travelers is a great idea but how it's implemented would be the most important key to success.

• Possible obstacle of each seller paying tax• Each Etsy seller has business tax ID

MERCHANT

Founder of Craftspringtraveled in Central Asiainterested in subject matter

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INSIGHTS

Travelers are not as interested in working as a buyer because....

• they can’t forecast the sales

• transportation of goods seem cumbersome

• logistics such as shipping, paying tax or tariff is a headache

• monetary incentive/ margin might not be high enough

Tuesday, February 19, 13

INSIGHTS

Travelers are interested in...

• information gathering/ sharing

• buying goods for friends and family souvenir or specialty items they were looking for ex)African drum, Egyptian belly dance costume

• buying goods to support the local merchant

• unique goods that will sell expensive in their home countries

Tuesday, February 19, 13

PRODUCTION CYCLE

MAKING

Funding Market investigation Trend AnalysisDesign decision Creation (skill & labor) Planning Pricing

STOCKING

Quality inspectionInventory logistics

LISTING

Access to basic tool &infrastructurePhotographyCopyCategorizing & tagging

EXPOSURE

Marketing strategyVisual merchandisingCollectionStorytellingBrand identityReaching the right audience

SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

Transaction User InterfaceConsumer confidence

SHIPPING

TransportationShipping label Coordinating with shipping companyShipping insurance

LIABILITY

Legal responsibilityTariffTaxQuarantineReturn & exchange

Tuesday, February 19, 13

PRODUCTION CYCLE

MAKING

Funding Market investigation Trend AnalysisDesign decision Creation(skill & labor) Planning Pricing

STOCKING

Quality inspectionInventory logistics

LISTING

Access to basic tool &infrastructurePhotographyCopyCategorizing & tagging

EXPOSURE

Marketing strategyVisual merchandisingCollectionStorytellingBrand identityReaching the right audience

SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

Transaction User InterfaceConsumer confidence

SHIPPING

TransportationShipping label Coordinating with shipping companyShipping insurance

LIABILITY

Legal responsibilityTariffTaxQuarantineReturn & exchange

Tuesday, February 19, 13

KEYWORDS

• Crowd sourcing

• Story telling

• Social network/ Community

• Information gathering

• Exchange of goods between far locations

Tuesday, February 19, 13