I think your page need a good way to graphically browse all those candy.
I don't understand the difference between the box from April 2014 and the size of "two standard Japanese envelopes".
Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#32Great write-up, Bemmu. Glad to hear Candy Japan is still going strong. I had a subscription for a couple of months last year, I got my first batch right after we met on a warm sunny day here in Amsterdam!
Unfortunately I had to cancel the subscription, though. This is because the frequency was just too high for me. Although I do love all the weird and funny types of candy, I'm not that much of a sweet tooth and some of the candies kept piling up! If 2015 also brings different types of subscription, I'll probably sign up again for once a month.
All the best!
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#33feedback from current customer (approx 20 months): i set up a subscription for my small team of devs--try to convince them i'm a thoughtful, generous manager, or at least buy their love. They "care packages" are a huge hit with this gang--every candy type (a team of six with varied tastes so not too surprising). Initially, when the twice-monthly shipments arrived, i would but the box on a bookcase in our area; i don't think the candy ever lasted more than 24 hours. After the first couple of months, they began retrieving them directly from the mailroom, then putting the box on my desk once it was empty. I would love to try some, or even one, but you see why that hasn't worked out so far. About a months or so ago, one of the devs on the team told me how awesome she thought were these sweets, and kudos to whomever orders them for the whole team.
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#34I have noticed a similar graph on Twitch viewership - you hover around 1000 viewers for a year or two, and then suddenly start gaining hundreds of viewers, and in just a few months, you may have doubled your numbers. Congrats on your success!
Where did you see those numbers? Is it from personal experience?
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#35How 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 prefec…
You might consider preordering extra so you can cover your count, and sell additional boxes/ordering of individual items as one off items. A one off box of some of the same stuff you shipped out might make a good gift or a way for a person to get some more of a box they really enjoyed, or a way to try out the service (perhaps at a slight discount) without subscribing.
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#36Hi Bemmu, I found something similar on PH some time ago (japancrate.com), although is seems more recent, do you know them? How common are these 'subscription box' services (I had no idea this was a thing)? Do you have more subscriptions in Europe or the US?
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#37I 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…
I disagree. the site is fine IMO. It communicates the message clearly.
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#38I 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…
I quite like the simplicity of the site. Yes, it may not play up the mystery, but it's cute and straightforward. I think that may inspire confidence in it.
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
This is American focused, but I think the story is very similar in Korea, so it might parallel how it works in Japan as well.
http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-Wholesale
I know in Korea that some of the big "traditional" style markets have shop fronts that are only wholesalers and won't sell to regular customers. If there's an analog where you live you might want to hit those up. I wouldn't at all be surprised if there's a wholesale confectionary market of some sort that meets once a month or whatever.
My sister-in-law ran a small store for a few years and she'd go to a local convention center/stadium and buy all kinds of inventory at such places.
Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review
#40I 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?
Please use A/B testing if you try out a new design.