People today realize that losing weight, learning a new skill, getting good grades, saving for retirement, or just about any other worthwhile endeavour requires a large degree of willpower. Unfortunately, willpower is hard to come by and exercising it can be difficult.
We figured it was about time that somebody created a simple technology to help us exercise restraint: A device that would help people focus their energy on self-improvement, rather than fighting off the world's unwanted temptations.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
We started on Kickstarter where we raised $40,000. Now, all of our sales come through our website. The store traffic comes from a large number of sources, the largest of which is Google, at about 10% of referrals.
Dave came up with the Kitchen Safe while snacking on cookies at home. Ryan joined him because he was looking for his own ways to improve self-control. Nick joined shortly thereafter because everyone knows that start-ups are super fun and exciting. Together we believe in taking risks, exploring new things, working hard, and having a good time.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
We use Shopify, Shipstation, and Fulfillment by Amazon. We are in the process of install the AdRoll application and also Shopify Product reviews. We work closely with product designers to develop products and have contracted a relatively large factory for product.
What are your top recommendations for new ecommerce entrepreneurs?
Get your marketing message right. We spent a lot of time marketing our product in way that was pretty ineffective. Our conversion was sub-two percent. Recently, we spent a lot of time improving the messaging, and we are starting to see conversion rates of 4%.
In addition to honing your marketing message spend a lot of time looking at other people stores. You can learn a lot from what other people have already done.