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Some of you may have seen this from Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soaps, but for those who haven't, I thought I would start a conversation on thoughts about this.
Here's her full blog post: https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com.../my-top-5-takeaways-from-the-hscg-conference/
Specifically discussing this snippet...
Honestly, I read this and about fell over. Only SIX fragrances? I don't think I could do it. I mean, not just because I'm a FO ho, but because I don't think I pick 6 fragrances that would consistently have at least one that someone would buy.
Looking at my best seller list, I have 10 that I consistently make in large batches at least once every two months (more if I'm doing a lot of shows). Then I have smaller batch quantities that I make to meet the needs for men's soaps, kids soaps, "dirty hippy" soaps, and such. Those smaller batch quantities make up roughly 25% of my sales. I'm not comfortable losing that much in sales. (actually, I really don't like losing any sales, so if I don't have something specific I try to reel them in with a custom order, which only works 25% of the time.)
I do get the point of customers being overwhelmed, and I've seen it happen where customers have picked up two or three bars, smelled them and then started to walk away, already tired of trying to find a scent they like. That's usually where I step in and start asking what kind of scents do they like, and take some of the burden of smelling all the soap from them. I've also been working on improving my soap display and packaging so that the fragrance names are more visible, so people don't necessarily have to handle each bar of soap to find one that they like.
Maybe I'm being ranty, but isn't it our job as sellers to guide our customers to best choices, regardless of how many or few choices are available?
And, by the way, if you sell... how many fragrances do you typically carry? Right now, I think I'm pushing upwards of 30. (Which reminds me, I need to order another display rack for my show on Saturday.)
Here's her full blog post: https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com.../my-top-5-takeaways-from-the-hscg-conference/
Specifically discussing this snippet...
Honestly, I read this and about fell over. Only SIX fragrances? I don't think I could do it. I mean, not just because I'm a FO ho, but because I don't think I pick 6 fragrances that would consistently have at least one that someone would buy.
Looking at my best seller list, I have 10 that I consistently make in large batches at least once every two months (more if I'm doing a lot of shows). Then I have smaller batch quantities that I make to meet the needs for men's soaps, kids soaps, "dirty hippy" soaps, and such. Those smaller batch quantities make up roughly 25% of my sales. I'm not comfortable losing that much in sales. (actually, I really don't like losing any sales, so if I don't have something specific I try to reel them in with a custom order, which only works 25% of the time.)
I do get the point of customers being overwhelmed, and I've seen it happen where customers have picked up two or three bars, smelled them and then started to walk away, already tired of trying to find a scent they like. That's usually where I step in and start asking what kind of scents do they like, and take some of the burden of smelling all the soap from them. I've also been working on improving my soap display and packaging so that the fragrance names are more visible, so people don't necessarily have to handle each bar of soap to find one that they like.
Maybe I'm being ranty, but isn't it our job as sellers to guide our customers to best choices, regardless of how many or few choices are available?
And, by the way, if you sell... how many fragrances do you typically carry? Right now, I think I'm pushing upwards of 30. (Which reminds me, I need to order another display rack for my show on Saturday.)