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Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

candyjapan.com

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Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#21

Post by jglauche »

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service:

- The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month.

- Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy)

- There is no way to re-order candy that I actually like. Actually, it's hard to even gather the name of the candy often enough in order to search for it.

- The cancel subscription link / process was hard to find on your page.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#22

Post by bemmu »

chr15 wrote: post #18

How do you source your candies? Did you ever have any logistics issues with order fulfillment being time consuming? How did you get around that?

I've built a relationship with a supermarket owner. He gives me a discount and also does a lot of the work of calling around manufacturers to see which candies he can get. I suspect he probably makes a nice profit, too, compared to if I did all that sourcing myself.

The biggest challenge is that many items are region bound or limited time sales, so practically we cannot get them. If I took the train to various prefectures in Japan and chatted with manufacturers, I could probably get even more variety going. I was thinking of starting a new tier (Candy Japan premium) for that, but still thinking about it.

It does take time to prepare the packages. First of all we don't know exactly how many subscribers we'll have until the last minute. Then we want to order an amount of items that best matches that count. That takes more time than if we pre-ordered. Then stuffing the boxes takes about 3 days. I think the post also takes an extra day for them to calculate all the postage for a pile of 1000 boxes. So yes there are currently some delays, but from the customer point of view they get something every 2 weeks, only the initial shipment being slow to arrive.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#23

Post by caractacus »

bemmu wrote: post #12
JacobAldridge wrote: post #4

Congrats Bemmu - I love the 'overnight success story' that was 2014. In my experience, businesses tend to grow in jumps with a plateau in between and it looks like 2014 was that sort of year (as a deserved reward for the years of platform investment you had made). Best of luck getting over that 1,000 item milestone and then the next big jump beyond!

If I could just keep at 1000, that would be great success. I think if somehow the site doubled again, it would become possible to even hire full-time help. Interestingly not all sweets makers are that interested in selling in bulk. My approach seems to need some tweaking. Currently I would just send an email like "hey I'd like to buy 1000 of these cute candies you make, how much would it be?". But instead of a price,…

Are there Costco-like outlets in Japan? Places that sell in bulk at a lower cost?

Just signed up for a trial. Really looking forward to it. A couple of things: 1. The sign up process is SO EASY. Fantastic - wish other sites would make it so simple. Choose your level of service, pay, done. Fast and quick.

2. Email newsletter signup? Didn't notice one. Would be a great way to keep people who pay for gift subscriptions in the loop.

3. Provide a custom email for people who have bought a gift subscription. At the moment, it's just the link. If you provided a page or sample email that was like 'Hey, I've bought you a subscription to Candy Japan!!!! Here's what happens... etc etc' - I think it would make the impact of the gift greater.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#24

Post by bemmu »

jglauche wrote: post #21

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

Thanks for the feedback.

International mail is a bit unpredictable, even post office says the packages can take 2-4 weeks, so it is possible there could be overlap.

I try to balance between easy to eat and truly bizarre. Sorry you didn't like those rose flavored ones, but many people actually loved them. Taste preferences are so varied I can't hope to keep everyone happy. I would rather sometimes shock and sometimes dazzle instead of just keeping it safe.

Definitely looking into starting a shop in the future to re-order more of the good ones.

Cancel instructions are in the FAQ, they are complicated a bit because I don't have user accounts on the site (need to verify you have the subscription you are trying to cancel). Easiest way is to drop me an email and ask for cancel.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#25

Post by rosebyanyother »

jglauche wrote: post #21

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

I also left this year, but mostly due to discretionary spend finances and the the bready/snack heavy slant of the boxes.

The Rose candies were a stand out memory, delicious!

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#26

Post by bemmu »

caractacus wrote: post #23
bemmu wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could just keep at 1000, that would be great success. I think if somehow the site doubled again, it would become possible to even hire full-time help. Interestingly not all sweets makers are that interested in selling in bulk. My approach seems to need some tweaking. Currently I would just send an email like "hey I'd like to buy 1000 of these cute candies you make, how much would it be?". But instead of a price,…

Are there Costco-like outlets in Japan? Places that sell in bulk at a lower cost? Just signed up for a trial. Really looking forward to it. A couple of things: 1. The sign up process is SO EASY. Fantastic - wish other sites would make it so simple. Choose your level of service, pay, done. Fast and quick. 2. Email newsletter signup? Didn't notice one. Would be a great way to keep people who pay for gift subscriptions…

I don't really know how wholesale works, not sure how to learn more about it.

What I called the newsletter is really just a description of the items that we send to subscribers when stuff is shipped to them.

Good idea about the explanation page for gift subscriptions.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#27

Post by peterjancelis »

onion2k wrote: post #19
[deleted] wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Why would people pay a franchise fee to Candy Japan to start Candy $country? To access a way to promote to Candy Japan's customers, who are a group of people already proven to be interested in buying candy from other countries. EDIT: Added a quote to give context after the parent deleted their post. I hate it when they do that.

Sorry I did not notice there was a reply.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#29

Post by eyko »

bemmu wrote: post #11
mtgentry wrote: post #10

I still love this idea Bemmu. One suggestion - I think you should invest in design and copywriting for the homepage. What you're selling is an emotional experience but it isn't being presented that way. To Americans like me, Japan is mysterious and fun. I actually don't WANT to see what the box looks like. If you play up the mystery more, it becomes less of a transaction and more of a emotional experience which will…

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have some example of a site that would in your mind be closer to how Candy Japan should be?

https://www.graze.com/ comes to mind
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