White Pumps - This business is now sold!
Whitepumps was my first real insight to running an e-commerce website. It was perfect timing as the Master Menu brochure was starting to build traction and with the 400,000 copies that were being distributed each term, it seemed crazy not to take advantage of the marketing channel that had already been created!
Market Research & Advertising
It seemed EVERY student was wearing white pumps, so I created a website, bought the most obvious domain name (whitepumps.co.uk ) and published several FREE adverts in over 400,000 Master Menu brochures. I sourced the shoes/pumps from a large buyer who was supplying to the big name shops. I negotiated a great price and was surprised when the supplier accepted.
Results
The experience showed me the value of the Master Menu brochure and how my target market of students, bought the pumps from the only source that was advertising the website, the Master Menu Brochure.
Scale
We set up 9 shops in Yorkshire and had 45 staff running them daily. Wholesaling was easy as they really were quite popular!
Interest from competition
They were a massive hit and I was approached several times for the company but in the end, I decided not to sell it in 2010. This was an eye-opener for me. It showed me how powerful the Internet was and just how quickly I could get money out of customers online with the right advertising.
Selling Whitepumps in 2013
Even though I was approached in 2010 to sell, I held out until 2013 & achieved a 2500%+ R.O.I
On to the next venture!
Whitepumps was my first real insight to running an e-commerce website. It was perfect timing as the Master Menu brochure was starting to build traction and with the 400,000 copies that were being distributed each term, it seemed crazy not to take advantage of the marketing channel that had already been created!
Market Research & Advertising
It seemed EVERY student was wearing white pumps, so I created a website, bought the most obvious domain name (whitepumps.co.uk ) and published several FREE adverts in over 400,000 Master Menu brochures. I sourced the shoes/pumps from a large buyer who was supplying to the big name shops. I negotiated a great price and was surprised when the supplier accepted.
Results
The experience showed me the value of the Master Menu brochure and how my target market of students, bought the pumps from the only source that was advertising the website, the Master Menu Brochure.
Scale
We set up 9 shops in Yorkshire and had 45 staff running them daily. Wholesaling was easy as they really were quite popular!
Interest from competition
They were a massive hit and I was approached several times for the company but in the end, I decided not to sell it in 2010. This was an eye-opener for me. It showed me how powerful the Internet was and just how quickly I could get money out of customers online with the right advertising.
Selling Whitepumps in 2013
Even though I was approached in 2010 to sell, I held out until 2013 & achieved a 2500%+ R.O.I
On to the next venture!
