We opened our online store...without the benefit of any marketing...on 1 February. On the last day of this month, we're reflecting on what we've learned so far.
It's no surprise that we've only sold a small amount of stock. Advertising is evidently a necessary evil, so we're working on a few angles. More on that later.
The sales we have made have taught us a few things.
Thing 1: Nobody who buys our paint has gone down to the hardware store to look at the Dulux colour swatch in real life, nor bought a test pot to try out. So all our angsting about matching colours exactly to the Dulux Fandeck has probably been wasted time. Near enough is good enough.
Thing 2: Colours look different on monitors to what they do in real life. In particular, old iPhones put a greyish cast over all colours.
Thing 3: We have so many different colours on the shelf, that by now it's very easy to adjust a tin to achieve the exact colour that the customer is looking for. This is probably going to have to become a core part of our business model.