The journey to launching a brand requires a lot of work. 

What requires more work? Acquiring customers. It's an evolving process that never ends.

The After Hours website has been live for just over a week and I've been asked by a few people, 'so how is it going, have you received many orders yet'? I want to debunk the perception that you launch a website and the customers come running. PSA: They do not. 

The average ecommerce conversion rate sits between 1% and 4% for an established brand. That's potentially one sale for every 100 website visitors. Ecommerce can be a game of numbers but it's also very much a game of trust. 

Sales are great and I love to receive them but right now I'm focused on TRUST. Once you have TRUST, the customers will come. 

Having an existing gifting brand in the market helps as we are able to lean on Manflower Co’s established brand equity.

But that's not enough. 

So what am I doing to build trust?

Collaborations - We have recently completed a giveaway across our socials with other like-minded brands who not only have the same target audience but already have a large database/following. This does two things. 1. We are able to gain brand awareness and 2. Build trust through association. 

The Human Element - showing up for our community is something we are hugely focused on. Not only because we are a brand that celebrates connection but because customers want so much more from brands than your product. Recently I published an article on how to support a grieving friend. Our ‘Thoughts That Count’ blog will be the foundation to discussing topics our community really cares about. 

Our Products - We have been very selective about what products we include in our gift collection. I was speaking to Sam in the warehouse the other day and she asked how I go about deciding what products to select. I said “I carefully select brands that my target audience already knows and trusts”. Being very clear on who your target customers are is key to this strategy. Effectively if a potential customer lands on your website for the first time and they recognise a number of brands that are included in your gifts it will remove some of the questions surrounding quality as they are already aware of that brand's good reputation. Once again, we’re able to build trust by association.

Customer Service - I’ve always been a stickler for really good customer service. This is reflected in Manflower Co’s customer rating of 4.8. You can have the best product but if you deliver it with a really poor customer experience it diminishes the value of your product and you can say goodbye to your customers trusting you. We are focusing on doing the basics right which is often overlooked. I'll be doing this by providing seamless processes, showing appreciation and adding value to their life.

Perhaps it's time to fess up, so exactly how many sales has After Hours had so far? We have had 6 orders and onboarded 2 corporate clients. A result that I am happy with.

Standby for further updates, in the meantime I’ll be over here building trust.