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Validating product.

by Alton Luque
7 replies
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Hello Everyone,
I am currently setting up a website to validate a product I have sourced. I want to measure how many click throughs I get to my purchase page/how many add-to-carts I have so that I can find out if my product will sell. What is the best way to do this? I am using Shopify's basic plan and have just set up Google Analytics. I tried searching google for help but am unsure of even what keywords I should use. Any help or points in the right direction are much appreciated.

Thanks
Alton
#product #validating
  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Hi Alton,

    You can set up conversion tracking with google analytics -->
    https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1722054

    Surely if you sell the product that is the best way to "validate".

    Selling the product is how you prove it sells.

    Trying to measure hypotheticals before you actually start sending traffic and selling the product is not going to help.

    Best regards,

    Ozi


    Originally Posted by Alton Luque View Post

    Hello Everyone,
    I am currently setting up a website to validate a product I have sourced. I want to measure how many click throughs I get to my purchase page/how many add-to-carts I have so that I can find out if my product will sell. What is the best way to do this?
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    • Profile picture of the author Alton Luque
      Hello Oziboomer,
      I so appreciate your answer and advice. I do not however intend to spend on ads until after I know people will buy my product(at least to some extent. I have a specific goal of clickthroughs to the purchase page, and if I meet them, I plan to move forward with my business). I have only a sample I have sourced with my specifications, and do not plan to make place a bulk order until I have a bit more proof that people will be interested enough to purchase. I also plan to build this business around free traffic, at least initially. Thanks again

      dave_hermansen
      Thanks for the reply! I hadn't thought about simply issuing a refund, that seems very doable. I appreciate the help. Any other advice? I have a goal of "purchases" within a 30 day period and if I meet that goal, I plan to pursue the business further. Thanks for your help thus far.
      Alton
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      • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
        Originally Posted by Alton Luque View Post


        dave_hermansen
        Thanks for the reply! I hadn't thought about simply issuing a refund, that seems very doable. I appreciate the help. Any other advice? I have a goal of "purchases" within a 30 day period and if I meet that goal, I plan to pursue the business further. Thanks for your help thus far.
        Alton
        Well, if budget is a problem and you don't want to waste ad dollars, why not build the website and refund any orders you may get? Websites cost very little to build and maintain. It would give you a head start on marketing and seeing if you can drive traffic to the site. The down side is you may end up disappointing people and taking a reputation hit. Just depends how you handle it. I'd express my regrets in not being able to fulfill the order - the demand has been much higher than you anticipated. Offer the refund and ask if they'd like to be notified the moment it is in stock (unless you could convince them to not do a refund and to join a waiting list).
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        • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
          I've been waiting for a soloshot camera with a professional mount for about 5 months now but I trust the supplier and I know they will deliver upon release.

          From a personal perspective we had a rush of orders immediately after Xmas for a product we fabricate in house for a very unique niche.

          Our usual sales of the specific product in question is about 4-5 units per month and it usually requires a day for fabrication of the product.

          We had 36 orders for this one product in about a 5 day period when over half of my workforce was on their Christmas vacation - someone was running a course and they recommended the product.

          It wasn't as much the volume of orders because we normally cope by increasing overtime etc but we had stock sitting in shipping containers awaiting customs clearance and after they cleared customs we had to unload several containers and sort through to the raw materials required to fabricate the product.

          I got my best motherly sales support team on the phones and started talking to the people who had paid on average $700 upfront for a product that usually takes 3-5 days to deliver and we were staring down the barrel of a lead time of between 14-21 days.

          We had one cancellation and refund but that was not because we couldn't deliver rather they needed the money for something else.

          Whatever the OP decides to do if it were me I'd try to sell the product.

          If the wait time is long then contact the purchasers and explain the delivery time and be empathetic and listen to their concerns.

          We told everyone their order would be processed in the order it was received and we reassured them of our business history and reputation.

          If you are a new business then when a customer pays you and you can't yet supply just communicate and show you are professional.

          Refund if necessary but supply the demand where you can.

          I like the idea Dave has in relation to testing and refunding as long as you can follow up quickly and supply shortly thereafter otherwise you will harm your reputation and it is harder to recover from a bad reputation than to get up to speed and supply the product you offer.

          Communication is the key.

          Communicate with prospects.

          Communicate with purchasers both during the sales process and in the multiple follow-up and nurturing phase.

          Best regards,

          Ozi

          Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

          Well, if budget is an problem and you don't want to waste ad dollars, why not build the website and refund any orders you may get? Websites cost very little to build and maintain. It would give you a head start on marketing and seeing if you can drive traffic to the site. The down side is you may end up disappointing people and taking a reputation hit. Just depends how you handle it. I'd express my regrets in not being able to fulfill the order - the demand has been much higher than you anticipated. Offer the refund and ask if they'd like to be notified the moment it is in stock (unless you could convince them to not do a refund and to join a waiting list).
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          • Profile picture of the author Alton Luque
            Oziboomer and dave_hermansen
            Thanks for detailed replies and sharing your experience. That makes a lot of sense. I think I will just immediately issue refunds along with a coupon code to use when the product goes live. The delivery time will be a bit more than two months, as I'd have to place a bulk order with the manufacturer and they would ship freight from China. Any suggestions in regards to that specifically?
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    If you have money to spend testing, you can put the products on your site and run PPC ads. When people buy, simply inform them that the item is not in stock and issue a refund. That's the fastest way I know of to get a lot of visitors quickly and conversion information.
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  • Profile picture of the author OnlineStoreHelp
    So how are you going to get free traffic? SEO takes time and instead you could spend even $100, test some Facebook ads against your target market and see if there is interest. You can't test free traffic in the 14 day Shopify trial...
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    Learn how to set up a powerful, functional yet easy to use e-commerce website at cartprep.com.

    Not sure what ecommerce solution to use? Watch my video walk through of popular shopping carts.
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