It’s been an extremely busy month. As everyone knows November includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The month initially started off really rough for ARCH shoe sales. But as the month came to a close things really picked up. It was pretty exciting to say the least. So first things first, I will get into the Sales that were generated by Amazon Ads. Then I will give the total sales based on all ARCH brand shoes that sold during this month. I am generating this list by looking at the Sales e-mails sent by Amazon.
Two campaigns: ARCH Casual and ARCH Running from varying dates
ARCH Casual featuring The Allen casual shoe in 7 colors. Date: 10-15-2012 to 10-31-2012 I added the month of November to these sales. Those metrics are below and include the hits from the previous half a month. I didn’t feel like breaking down the clicks and impressions so do that math on your own, lol.
Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 63,802
Clicks: 139
CTR: .22%
Total Spend: $3.53
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 0
Product Sales: 0.00
Conversion Rate: .0%
November … Okay I changed my mind and did the subtraction
Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 218044
Clicks: 538
CTR: .24%
Total Spend: $18.92
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 3
Product Sales: $105.00
Conversion Rate: .44%
ARCH Running featuring the CG097II running shoe in 4 colors Date: 11-03-2012 to 11-30-2012
Number of ads: 38
Impressions: 708,791
Clicks: 1432
CTR: .20%
Total Spend: $51.36
Average CPC: .04 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 10
Product Sales: 245.00
Conversion Rate: .70%
As always a very interesting thing continues to occur with these numbers. My total spend increased from last month, but I also sold more shoes combined. Once again, I dropped the price per pair down to 35.00 which literally means that I am losing money by selling the shoe especially since I am including a free watch with the casual shoe and a free tee with the running shoe. However, I have to build a fan base of people who trust me and the product and in order to do this, I have to provide customer service on par with the biggest and best companies in the world. Sometimes when you lose, you actually win.
Think about this, ARCH is still an unknown entity. I am not being featured on the big shoe blogs or the lifestyle blogs. I don’t have Google Ads running and I don’t have a big time sponsor telling people to trust the brand. This is a very grassroots movement and the people who are taking a chance on the shoes have never tried on the shoes and have never seen the shoes beyond a picture on the website. If those people who are buying trust me, I have to give them a reason to return. The question is how long does it take for me to build up their trust? Do I have to continue doing this for always? I don’t think so, as the demand increases I will be able to provide the same customer service, with an increase in price, for better designs. I still am committed to only making shoes that will have a maximum price tag of 60.00 dollars and there is my marketing angle. My goal in the new year is to shift manufacturing and increase the number of shoes ordered to decrease the cost per pair. Which will enable me to continue to package the shoes with Free items.
I am also very aware of the need to conquer my local market. In my Key Points I explain that a business has to conquer it’s region. My willingness to overlook the local market is based on the fact that I have no desire to drive and deliver shoes and sell out of my trunk. I did this for years by selling at Flea markets and barber shops. In January I will open my first storefront for ARCH. While I am not looking forward to the overhead, it is necessary to actually conquer my local market and build my base here in Memphis. I will continue to use Amazon as my primary distribution network. I am going to use Square as my P.O.S. in the store. I am excited about the growth as small as it seems, it’s really a huge accomplishment!
As I stated earlier the 13 pair sold through Amazon Ads was topped off with an additional 7 sales that were not generated by the Ads. 20 pair in one month!!!! And an additional 1 pair on Small Business Saturday at K’PreSha Boutique in Downtown Memphis. I missed two sales there because I could not process credit cards. I won’t miss those again. This has been an incredible month overall. I hope that you are taking the time to pursue your dreams and that you are seeing progress in your ventures.
Stay Motivated!
Chris B. P.S. Go visit the shop and buy a pair 🙂
