从在线到面对面：开设自己的零售店
July marks Independent Retailer Month!Here,the WIN Labhas collaborated with four savvy entrepreneurs to get their advice ongetting product ready for retail,partnering with retailers,帮助这些合作伙伴出售您的产品, andopening up your own shop. The following post was created by Emily Lagasse MBA ’15, CEO of ,Fedwell Pet FoodsanD aBabson WIN Lab acceleratoralumna.
In 2010, when Lagasse returned from her Peace Corps service in Togo, she brought Fenway, her African dog home with her. Once back in America, Fenway became ill on the traditional American dog food diet. She took classes, learned how to cook for him, and nursed him back to health. She founded Fedwell based on the recipes that healed her dog and keeps him healthy. Now, Lagasse is moving beyond e-commerce and opening up her own storefront in Somerville, MA.
Q. Tell us a bit about your company and initial e-commerce launch.
I launched my firstFedwelldog food product in April 2014 in local stores and online, simultaneously.
Q. What is your biggest tactical advice for e-commerce startups as they launch?
Test everything, measure everything, and adjust often! With e-commerce it’s especially important to understand where your customers are coming from and how much it costs to acquire them.
问：您决定在什么时候开设一家零售商店？
我一直在研究这个概念，并启动了第一个Petwell供应，大约一年了。我的FedwellPet Foods products have been sold in other specialty pet stores and online for four years, and although a healthy diet is a terrific foundation for pets, I found that the concerns of my customers were not being fully addressed. In speaking with my customers over the past several years it became apparent that every pet suffered from specific ailments, from anxiety to kidney disease. While a high-quality diet can help address these issues, I wanted to open a store to further support pet ailments through holistic remedies and services like herbs, flower essences, and acupuncture.
Q. What was the strategy behind your retail location?
Commercial real estate in the area is pretty tight, and even tighter in the areas I was looking at– Somerville and Cambridge. I applied for 4 other spaces before getting the one I’m in now. From a community and cultural standpoint, Somerville/Cambridge feels like the right demographic for me. I also consulted heat maps of dog ownership in the area to find hot spots of dog activity! At the end of the day though, in a competitive real estate market, there were very limited options.
问：您会告诉其他企业家在开设店面之前要做什么？
Anything you can do to test your retail concept ahead of time is helpful. Whether you can run a pop-up store or build momentum through local events, you will be able to collect data that informs a storefront strategy.
问：您认为其他企业家应该知道的其他任何事情吗？
我认为，让您的个人创造力和兴趣在商店中脱颖而出并感到真诚非常重要。在整个建筑过程中，我一直非常忠实于自己的目标和个人美学，非常注意不要陷入所有其他身体正在做的事情的陷阱。这些差异不仅会为我们的客户创造更好，更独特的体验，而且对我来说也更有趣。我可以用自己的风格进行装饰（我目前正在建造苔藓墙！），并计划上课和活动，即使不是我的商店，我也想去去
Petwell Supply提供替代产品和服务，以支持狗和猫的常见疾病。Somerville商店开业，以更好地为公司的客户服务，并帮助宠物过着更健康，更快乐的生活。
