In the early 90s, deodorants were still sold in cardboard boxes. Then Walmart came along and realized that the cardboard was simply millions of felled trees, extra cents the customer had to pay, and wasted shelf space. From there, they got rid of the boxes and started selling deodorants the way they are now found in supermarkets around the world.
The same happened with thousands of products that we now find in supermarkets. When Walmart feels it can save space, they pressure manufacturers to get rid of the non-essential and save costs for everyone. This can range from additional packaging to complete redesigns to offer more volume in smaller containers.
At the time, this was revolutionary. In a business with such small margins, every space on trucks and shelves is money being charged to the end customer. But that’s not the most interesting part; the most interesting part is that little by little Walmart and supermarkets that followed in its footsteps continue to tell the world to this day how everyday consumer products should be and how they should look.
This is how a cereal box should look.
This is how toilet paper should look.
This is how a glue stick should look.
Why? Because these three products are made to be sold in physical stores, where people are accustomed to buying individually in small quantities. And we’re so used to consuming products this way that it makes more sense to buy 80 rolls of toilet paper than 10 large rolls that contain the same as eight small ones.
Why? Because factories have been doing it this way since the beginning, and changing the image of a product not only requires innovation in manufacturing but also requires changing people’s perception and teaching them that there are other forms, sizes, colors, and packaging. And that’s expensive, and that’s difficult. It’s easier to make a big box, fill it with more boxes, lower the price, and send it that way.
And here’s my problem with Amazon and today’s e-Commerce. Amazon helped educate the world about how practical and convenient it is to shop online. They made the process easy, fast, and enjoyable. Their logistics system is the foundation of any other company in the world doing e-Commerce. But what happens? Amazon only helped facilitate the online sale of products that we already find in physical branches. Amazon has no interest in innovating the way a product looks or is sold. They always get their money. If it’s big, they get a big commission; if it’s small, they get a small commission. They have no interest in changing the way we know certain industries. They don’t need to. Amazon doesn’t need it, but we, as owners of DTC brands, do need it.
The commissions from Amazon or other marketplaces, the shipping fees paid to carriers, the cost of storage and transportation, the space it occupies in containers. And most importantly, for the small margins in e-Commerce, we need it. We need to innovate beyond changing the price and selling in packs of six instead of one. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it possible? Yes.
This is what a physical store selling mattresses looks like. Before 2014, the preferred way to buy one was to go to a store and then figure out how to transport it.
Then came Casper and they started making mattresses that could be shipped like this:
Selling over 100 million dollars in their first year of operation. Of course, competitors followed suit and the result? Multiple businesses valued in the billions of dollars making hundreds of millions per year.
But how did it all start? It started with a company that found a boring market that hadn’t seen any changes since its invention and adapted it to e-Commerce. They adapted it from its manufacturing to its packaging, and the way they marketed it. But there’s something even crazier…
This is how the popularity of Casper and Purple increased over time. Of course, the upward trend started after their foundation in 2014 and 2015. So, logically, we would assume that from this moment on, the search for mattresses and beds on the internet also grew. Well, that’s not the case…
Beds
Mattress
The searches for beds and mattresses have always been there; it was the supply that only emerged in 2014. The demand had always been there, but no one wanted to innovate before.
The same thing is happening today with thousands of other products. Industries that have seen no changes in 100 years with products that no one has ADAPTED to e-Commerce. Food, office items, construction and hardware items. All the products found in a bathroom. All baby-related products. Cleaning items. Vitamins, medications, creams. Gardening, beverages, pet food, disposable products. Practically any product that you still have to go to the supermarket to buy because it makes more sense than ordering it online due to “price,” “space,” or “extra boxes.”
Products that have not changed since you’ve known them, products that at first glance don’t make much sense to buy online because they are too big, too small, too heavy, or too light to be mailed.
It’s about finding the market that has not seen innovation or adaptation to e-Commerce and modifying it, updating the design, improving the quality, changing the way we know it, but always keeping in mind that the product this time is made especially for the Internet and not for physical stores.
If you manage to find the market, develop the right product, and educate customers on how a product is consumed, the possibilities will be endless. Not only does a blue ocean open up, but you can work from the start to optimize every part of the operation in such a way that, like Walmart, it’s optimized for selling cheap, our store and products are optimized for selling and being a specialized store made for e-Commerce. Not just an online repackager and reseller.