Data-driven decision-making
As species unaware of multiple and majority of things going on in this universe, we often look out into the sky wondering what the heck this world is and how did we end up here. Although looking out to such a sky in e-commerce might sound romantic, acting by a so-called “crystal ball” is extremely dangerous for the success of your business. For the past few weeks, I have been stocking up on a lot of data reports on e-commerce apparel trends (downloading them to my drive). This habit of reading up on data before making any big decisions, such as launching your own brand, will save me thousands of hours and prevent me from a lack of awareness failure. I have a burning desire to understand how the world market and the modern consumer operate. To get to a deep understanding of this aspect, I’m trying to get into the habit of skimming these data reports for fun, instead of other mindless attention grabbing activities. So couple solid stats that fortify my brand brief:
Shoppers aged 18-25 are the most profitable, as they spend the most( so a check mark for the millennial target audience)
Apparel is the most dominant shopping category (good choice of a product to sell)
Email marketing remains to be the most profitable and high ROI communication method.
Etc.
Although seeing the facts above might not impress you because they seem intuitive or they “make sense”, developing a habit of gaining access to the world repository of data and facts is crucial. Maybe these facts are not necessary for actually launching my brand this summer. However, the habit that I would have developed is going to work for me down the road, when I have leverage and power to make higher impact decisions with bigger money and responsibility on the line. Although most of these market research tools are not open to public ( I got access through my uni), there are definitely free reports out there, as well as creative ways of getting access to the material that you really need.
So I am leaving looking at the starry sky for when I feel dreamy. With my business, I am choosing the approach of staying on top of the data as much as possible, especially when this data is readily available and doesn’t require my spending money and effort to “see it for myself”. Whatever else I do, whether it’s trying to sell a product or acquire some health habit, I am never living by the crystal ball, meaning leaving things to chance, hoping that things work out and awaiting a favorable outcome in return for all my "hard work" of waiting.