Survival of the Fittest – Digital Products as Business Saviours
Photography by Nikita Vhora
‘What could’ve saved us? What could’ve saved them? And them? And them?’ hammered through my mind this March end. Corona positive cases were slowly on a rise in India and we were in a lockdown, leaving all business owners around me aghast. In a matter of a few hours we saw the shutters being pulled down and online sales dipping steeply as we adopted the indefinite times of desolate stillness. I thought of every brand and business I had worked with, and the question hammered!
‘What could’ve saved us?’
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They first met at an eCommerce business conference in 2018. Rehan sells camera accessories with an outlet each in Abu Dhabi and Mumbai. He recently also launched an online store. Isha is a product designer. She makes boutique handbags for women that double up as a work bag and an after hours carry-all. She sells purely through her online store and has customers worldwide.
Lockdown 2020
A WhatsApp exchange.
Rehan - Isha, how are you? I hope this C mess hasn’t been too bad for your business. I’m myself in a situation.
Isha - Sorry to know that! Let me know if I can be of help. Past few months have been unnerving, trying to stay relevant in times like these.
Rehan - Online selling had put an end to all woes, geographical boundaries had opened up. But purchases dropped to almost zero as soon as the lockdown struck! Few order cancellations came in too, as logistics remained non-operational. Cash flows went for a toss, Isha! How are you staying relevant?
Isha - A fairly new initiative helped me sail through. I help enterprising women organise themselves better, Rehan. My handbags are an outcome of this. My range is focused. To scale further and to stay relevant, I launched digital products on my store. By merely understanding what women carry in their handbags, I realised organising aid would help them throughout the day – leading me to create a small series of digital tools (downloadable and all-devices-friendly) with the help of my developer and graphic designer. For example, we launched a planner with menstruation logs that helps one plan one’s work better around period days.
The complimentary beta subscription was well-accepted. Our customers renewed it through the lockdown period and received additional credit for their next handbag purchase. Zero dependency on logistics, no packaging cost, my designer mind put to use, I had cash flows rolling through the lull. Of course, I didn’t make profits but my baby is afloat.
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The answer spurted out before the hammering calmed.
‘The same as the solution you suggested!’
Under my current project in eCommerce retail, I was assigned the responsibility to restructure the product categories and introduce new ones, anticipating a plateauing with the current offerings. My plan made brand-n-business sense to the team, except the math of time was not making sense. We could introduce new products, but the time from designing to manufacturing to sampling and the final inventory arrival at our warehouse would take longer and by then we would’ve hit a plateau.
“Let’s introduce digital products!” I exclaimed.
“Tools that align with our brand positioning, complement the current catalogue, reach people at the tap of ‘pay’ and become a part of their daily lives starting now! They need not be complicated or burn holes in our pockets. If they strike a chord with the customers, we’ll expand them into an app. And then even if the ship with our goods sinks, we’ll still be relevant. We’ll still have customers coming back to us. Where’s the plateau?”
The answer hammered in my mind loud and clear.
‘Digital products. Every brand, any business, across sectors – retail, hospitality, real estate, healthcare, sports can gain fortitude if they can add value to their customers’ lives, over the Internet.
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Times define ‘fittest’. Act to survive.
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Words: Nikita Vhora