the wardrobe columbia
TRANSCRIPT
THE WARDROBEA trusted marketplace for college students to buy, sell, and rent their items
Tessa HurrJackie Li
Avanti ShroffAllison Peng
Christina Nguyen
Female College Students (17-22)
Possibly Male College Students
Students who want to upgrade their style and be connected to people who have a look that they want to emulate.
App maintenance
Support to customers
Marketing on social media
Connecting students to peer stylists in order to upgrade their wardrobes through personal meetings or tailored advice.
Helps students find outfits when they have limited time.
Provides means of styling for special events (1-time service)
Showcasing student stylists.
Student Stylists
Student Customers
Clothing Companies: sponsoring stylists
Student Photographers: reward stylists who do better.
80% to stylist, 20% to us - variable
salary to app developers - fixed
cost of domain and cost of maintaining servers - fixed
20% of payment to stylist goes to our company
You pay a base price for the first time, and then you pay their price afterwards.
Once you reach a certain number of clients, you get a larger cut
Company sponsors
Web App
Mobile App
Referrals
Stylists
App Developers
Customer relations reps
Capitalize on special events (formals, holidays, student events)
Ask for feedback about stylist interaction + client experience
Client reviews and ratings should be public.
» Female college students were interested, but the majority were unwilling to pay for styling services.
» Male college students were not interested in the styling service.
» People emphasized the need for one-time outfits, like formalwear or business clothes.
» We decided to pivot to a more niche area and transformed our platform to give college students a marketplace to buy, sell, and rent their clothing.
KEY LEARNINGS 4
We are resegmenting an existing niche marketplace for college students to buy, sell, and rent their clothes
6
8. Key Partners 6. Key Activities 2. Value Propositions
9. Cost Structure
7. Key Resources
4. Customer Relationships
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS - Day 2 7
3. Channels
1. Customer Segments
5. Revenue Streams
Sellers and loaners
- App developers - Customer relations reps
- App maintenance - Support to customers - Marketing on social media
- Get: Social media promotions, referrals, student ambassadors - Keep: Ease of transaction and seamless experience keeps customers - Grow: Reward system
- Web App - Mobile app- Referrals
College students (17-25) who are interested in selling or loaning their clothing to other students
Provides a platform where college students can earn money from loaning/selling gently used clothes
Cost of maintaining team of app developers and customer service reps (fixed costs) Cost of domain and cost of maintaining servers (fixed costs)Cost of transactions
80% to renter/seller, 20% to the company Ad revenue
Buyers and rentees
Easier, cheaper, faster alternative to buying clothes online or in stores for busy college students within a small campus distance
***Sections that have been changed are outlined in red
College students (17-25) who are interested in buying or renting other student’s clothing
» Majority of male college students were uninterested in buying, selling, or renting clothes
» Found that males were more interested in buying, selling, and renting other items instead of just clothes
» Wanted to increase profit margins → conducted more customer interviews
» We had to pivot to allow college students to buy, sell, and rent many different items, such as textbooks, electronics, furniture, etc. to other students, instead of only clothing items.
KEY LEARNINGS 8
8. Key Partners 6. Key Activities 2. Value Propositions
9. Cost Structure
7. Key Resources
4. Customer Relationships
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS - Day 3 10
3. Channels
1. Customer Segments
5. Revenue Streams
Sellers and loaners
- App developers - Customer relations reps
- App maintenance - Support to customers - Marketing on social media
- Get: Social media promotions, referrals, student ambassadors - Keep: Ease of transaction and seamless experience keeps customers - Grow: Reward system
- Web App - Mobile app- Referrals
College students (17-25) who are interested in selling or loaning their clothing, textbooks, electronics, furniture, etc. to other students
Provides a platform where college students can earn money from loaning/selling gently used items
- Cost of maintaining team of app developers and customer service reps (fixed costs) - Cost of domain and cost of maintaining servers (fixed costs)- Cost of transactions
- 80% to renter/seller, 20% to the company - Ad revenue
Buyers and rentees
Easier, cheaper, faster alternative to buying secondhand items online or in stores for busy college students within a small campus distance
College students (17-25) who are interested in buying or renting other student’s items
Avani» 19 years old » Undergraduate sophomore» Has a work study job» In a sorority » Likes: Rihanna, The Office,
has a travel blog
CUSTOMER ARCHETYPES 11
Nick» 22 years old » Undergraduate senior» Planning on a postgrad trip
to Europe» Likes: his Warby Parker
glasses, basketball
AvaniPains:
» Needs a formal dress for an event ASAP » Doesn’t have time to shop downtown
Gains:
» Can try on dress in person before renting/buying quickly
» Short travel distance » Buy/rent from trusted seller
CUSTOMER ARCHETYPES 12
NickPains:
» Needs to get rid of his textbooks, TV, and stereo system ASAP
Gains:
» $$$» Getting rid of unwanted items quickly» Easy to schedule meetups
Top 10 Items Sold/Rented1. Textbooks2. Clothes (formal dresses, interview clothes, ties, etc.)3. Refrigerators4. Electronics5. Furniture and housewares6. Air conditioners7. Cookware8. Video games9. Bicycles
10. Cleaning supplies
TOP TEN ITEMS SOLD/RENTED 13
» Found that students typically made two types of purchases in a peer-to-peer marketplace
» Urgent and casual purchases» Majority of students were unwilling to forfeit a 20%
commission» Students wanted a way to ensure their items weren’t
damaged if they were loaning valuable items
» Pivoted to decrease commission rate from 20% to 10%. Added another revenue stream that allowed sellers to promote their posts for a nominal fee. Added a 5% insurance fee and changed cost structure to include reimbursements for damaged goods.
KEY LEARNINGS 14
8. Key Partners 6. Key Activities 2. Value Propositions
9. Cost Structure
7. Key Resources
4. Customer Relationships
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS - Day 4 16
3. Channels
1. Customer Segments
5. Revenue Streams
Sellers and loaners
- App developers - Customer relations reps
- App maintenance - Support to customers - Marketing on social media
- Get: Social media promotions, referrals, student ambassadors - Keep: Ease of transaction and seamless experience keeps customers - Grow: Reward system
- Web App - Mobile app- Referrals
College students (17-25) who are interested in selling or loaning their clothing, textbooks, electronics, furniture, etc. to other students
Provides a platform where college students can earn money from loaning/selling gently used items
- Cost of maintaining team of app developers and customer service reps (fixed costs) - Cost of domain and cost of maintaining servers (fixed costs)- Cost of transactions - Reimbursements for damaged goods
- 90% to renter/seller, 10% to the company - Additional 5% insurance fee - Sellers promote posts- Ad revenue
Buyers and rentees
Easier, cheaper, faster alternative to buying secondhand items online or in stores for busy college students within a small campus distance
College students (17-25) who are interested in buying or renting other student’s items
Get Strategy 17
Traffic to our website and
mobile application
Social media promotions via Facebook and Instagram ads
Student ambassadors
Referrals from existing
members / word of mouth
5% commission
for user’s first transaction. 10% after.
KEY LEARNINGS 18
» Most students did not feel that student ambassadors would persuade them to use the app
» The majority expressed more interest in using the app if most of their friends were using it
» Students would rather be charged an extra 10% service fee for the transaction as a buyer than be charged a 10% commission fee as a seller.
» Most students preferred an optional rather than mandatory insurance fee
» Pivoted to remove student ambassadors as a “Get Strategy” and emphasized referrals. Added 10% optional insurance fee and 10% service fee for buyers as revenue streams
8. Key Partners 6. Key Activities 2. Value Propositions
9. Cost Structure
7. Key Resources
4. Customer Relationships
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS - Day 5 20
3. Channels
1. Customer Segments
5. Revenue Streams
Sellers and loaners
- App developers - Customer relations reps
- App maintenance - Support to customers - Marketing on social media
- Get: Social media promotions, referrals, student ambassadors - Keep: Ease of transaction and seamless experience keeps customers - Grow: Reward system
- Web App - Mobile app- Referrals
College students (17-25) who are interested in selling or loaning their clothing, textbooks, electronics, furniture, etc. to other students
Provides a platform where college students can earn money from loaning/selling gently used items
- Cost of maintaining team of app developers and customer service reps (fixed costs) - Cost of domain and cost of maintaining servers (fixed costs)- Cost of transactions - Reimbursements for damaged goods
- 90% to renter/seller, 10% to the company - 10% service fee for buyers- 10% optional insurance fee - sellers promote posts- Ad revenue
Buyers and rentees
Easier, cheaper, faster alternative to buying secondhand items online or in stores for busy college students within a small campus distance
College students (17-25) who are interested in buying or renting other student’s items
REVENUE MODEL 21
Web and Mobile App
» Transaction fees» 10% service fee for
every transaction » Advertising
» Promoting items» Insurance
CHANNEL
Dire
ct
REVENUE STRATEGY
» Referral revenue» Back-end offersAn
cilla
ryPRICING TACTIC
Users will set the price for their items, and we will collect a 10% service fee from all transactions.
Company
BuyerSeller
$ for Item
Gives item
10% insured item service fee,Cost to promote a post Updates on
available items
Send promos
10% service fee
HOW WE ARE DIFFERENTIATING OURSELVES 23
Filtering Based on Items or
Categories
The Wardrobe
Quick, Last Minute
Shopping
Feedback / Rating System
No Shipping
Costs
On Campus Meetups
Optimized Scheduling
Community Trust
Extra Income for
College Students
WHAT WE’RE DOING NEXT 24
» Continue searching for revenue, pricing, and logistical strategies via customer discovery
» Test an MVP of the service and collect feedback
TEAM MEMBERS TESSA HURR CHRISTINA NGUYEN JACKIE LI ALLISON PENG AVANTI SHROFF
Degree Program / Department (Major)
B.Sc. in Computer Science
B.Sc. in Operations Research
B.Sc. in Operations Research
B.Sc. in Operations Research
B.Sc. in Operations Research
Provide your LinkedIn public profile URL /in/tessahurr
/in/christina-h-nguyen
/in/jacqueline-li-b07b5989
N/A /in/avanti-shroff
Pick a role you think you most likely will
play on this team (Hustler, Hacker,
Designer or Product Picker)
Designer, Product Picker
Designer, Hustler Hacker Hustler Hustler
Fun Fact Pole vaulted in high school
Moving to Vietnam postgrad
Played softball in college
Is right handed but only uses left hand
when throwing frisbees
Has a turtle
COLUMBIA IEOR E4560: THE LEAN LAUNCHPAD 26
MARKET SIZE 27
20.09 Million
20.5 Million
13.86 Million
Total Addressable Market: All U.S. College Students*
Served Available Market: U.S. College Students who own a laptop, smartphone or tablet (98% of U.S. College Students)
Target Market: U.S. College Students who are inclined to participate in peer to peer shopping (69% of U.S. College Students who own a laptop, smartphone or tablet)
* Inflated number because it includes college students outside the 17-25 age rangeReferences: Yahoo Business, Pearson Higher Education
Channels 28
Revenue to seller/loaner Cost of business maintenance Company Profit
Based on customer interviews we decided to use both a mobile application and website as our channels.
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Company Revenue
WHAT WE LEARNED 29
Type Hypothesis Experiment Result
Customer Segmentation
College students want to buy, sell, or rent second-hand items.
We asked college students if they would be interested in buying, selling, or renting second-hand items
88% were interested.
Value Proposition
College students are comfortable with using second-hand items or allowing others to use their items.
We asked college students if they have ever bought, sold or rented items before.
76% have.
Channels College students would prefer both a mobile and web application.
We asked potential customers if they would prefer both a mobile and web application as opposed to only one option.
96% were interested in both.
Revenue Streams
A 20% commission is reasonable and customers are interested in an insurance policy.
We asked potential customers if a 20% commission was reasonable and also if they would be interested in an insurance policy.
16% thought the commission was reasonable.
82% were interested in an insurance policy.
OUR PROPOSED EXPERIMENTS 30
Type Experiment Pass/Fail
Channels Interview customers and ask if there is a preferred action on each channel (e.g. selling via mobile, buying via web). Determine if students would be willing to refer the app via social media.
Pass: If more than 50% find use for each channel
Fail: If less than 50% find use for each channel
“Get” Strategy Would you be more incentivised to use the platform if for the first item you rented/sold the service on takes 5% instead of 10% of the revenue from the transaction? Would you appreciate receiving referrals from friends? Are you interested in being a student ambassador?
Pass: If 50% express interest
Fail: If less than 50% express interest
Revenue Model Is a 10% cut reasonable? 15% cut for insurance? Pass: If 50% say they would.
Fail: If less than 50% say they would.