Business Model Assessment

Group 2Heather WillowAlec JonesAbraham KlimasGeorge Murray

History of Blinds.comAccomplishmentsBlinds.com Assessment

I. Think12 Dimensions, Life Cycle,

Business Model, Business Strategy, SWOT & 4 Ps

II. CreateWeb Development and Design &

Mobile DevelopmentIII. Engage

SEM, SEO, Social Media & CRMIV. Optimize

Web Analytics, KPIs & Conversion Optimization

CONTENTS

HISTORY OF BLINDS.COMJay Steinfeld, Founder, Owner and CEO

1986 – 1993, Laura’s Draperies

1994, the dot-com boom

nobrainerblinds.com from 1996 until 2004

Incorporated under Global Custom Commerce, Inc.

HISTORY OF BLINDS.COM

HISTORY OF BLINDS.COM

ACCOMPLISHMENTSINC Magazine "Cisco Growing with Technology Award“ (2000)

Ranked #107 Internet Retailer's Top 500 Companies (2003)

Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year“ (2006)

AMA Houston Marketer of the Year (2009)

Houston Business Journal #1 Best Place to Work for companies with 101 to 500 employees (2010 – 2012)

COO Steve Riddell wins Gold Stevie Award for “Senior Sales Executive of the Year” (2012)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Online sales started at an average of $500/week on nobrainerblinds.com

Sales rose to $15 million by 2004 (1st year of blinds.com)

Jump of 153.33% in sales to $38 million in 2005

$45 million in 2006

$75 million in sales with only 110 employees in 2010

Sales grew to over $110 million in 2012

I. THINK“Business Innovation is About New Value, Not New Things. Innovation is relevant only if it creates value for customers — and therefore for the firm.” – Mohanbir Sawhney

The marketplace is becoming more segmented & moving toward more niche products

More competitors are offering targeted products, requiring faster speed-to-market

Some traditional companies may not survive radically innovative change

Knowledge, not information, is becoming the new competitive advantage

Collins Five Stages of Decline:

Offerings: not blinds, but the service

Platform: the web & Window Shopper app

Solutions: SureFit program & free replacement

Customers: DIYers

Customer Experience: installation videos, interior designer consultations & testimonials

Value Capture: Google paid search

Processes: intensive customer service & relationship management

Organization: service center only

Supply Chain: order processing, not warehousing

Presence: now on mobile

Networking: multiple manufacturers to reduce back orders

Brand: Alliance partner site

12 Dimensions of Innovation

DANGER ZONE

BUSINESS MODEL – “E-TAILER”

Customer Value:

Customer service is priority

Free shipping & returns

SureFit, face2face, free samples

Scope:

Homemakers

DIYers

Pricing:

No inventory means no holding costs

Enables sale of a variety of high-quality products of all price ranges

Revenue Source:

Use of Google AdWords to direct traffic to website

Seeks referral revenue from installation companies

Connected Activities:

Window Shopper App

Implementation:

Steinfeld shifted strategy when he realized it was not a blinds company but a direct marketing company

A Google-esque set of Core Values that fosters innovative problem solving

Capabilities:

Leads the industry in most, if not all, aspects of service, pricing, and connectivity

Sustainability:

Customer service always seeking to improve

Reviews and word of mouth must stay in high percentage

Making sure companies deliver requested products in a timely manner

MARKETING STRATEGYTOOLS:

Segmentation

1. Geographic – global and mobile (constant)

2. Behavioral – homemakers’ response to and knowledge of home goods (inherent)

3. Occasional – those decorating for holidays, etc. (seasonal)

4. Beneficial – convenience of sizing, ordering and shipping (key marketing focus)

Targeting – Direct Marketing

Access to consumer databases, use of email marketing, radio ads (WOKV), search engine marketing (Google AdWords)

Emphasizes track able, measurable responses, results and costs from prospects and/or customers – regardless of medium

Promoting – Brand Equity

Social media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn

Steinfeld writes for BNET and INC Magazine

5TH P

4 Ps & 4 Cs Product (Service): not the

manufacturer but the designer

Price: no holding costs enables lower prices for designer brands

Placement: global and mobile

Promotion: Google PPC & AdWords

Customer solution: no sizing or cutting

Customer cost: free shipping & returns on incorrect measurements

Convenience: Window Shopper app gives the customer a preview, easy to navigate site with helpful videos

Communication: email marketing

StrengthsMarket leaderCompany cultureDebt freeNetwork of suppliersBrand recognitionStrong customer service

WeaknessesSEONo inventory

OpportunitiesCompetition analysisEmail marketingSmartphone app optimization

ThreatsStagnant economyCompetition closing the gap

SWOT

Helpful HarmfulIn

tern

al

Exte

rnal

The Competition:

II. CREATE III. ENGAGE

Web Development and DesignThe key to having well developed digital assets is good planningThe designs should enhance user experience and guide visitors through websites

Website Success FactorsAccessabilityUsabilitySearchabilityDiscoverability

Search Engine OptimizationA search engine friendly website structureA well researched list of key phrasesContent optimized to target those key phrasesLink popularityUsage data

Search Engine MarketingSEO + PPC = SEMBoth organic and paid search results (the two arms) by way of important keywords are critical to maximize ROI

Accessibility Considerations

TWO

Two Concerns:Technical – browser capabilitiesUsers ability – language or sight problems

Blinds.com is Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer compatible

CHECK

Usability Considerations – Staying “Above the Fold”

Standard Conventions:• Logo in top left

corner• Main menu bar at

top in contrasting color

• Search bar at top right

Customer service centric:• face2face consultations• Phone number for those

who like talking to a real person

• Quality reassurance indicators

Search Engine Visibility – SEO & SEM

“blinds” only “blinds.com”

Above the fold search returns for “blinds” and “blinds.com” on Bing & Yahoo

Social Media & Discoverability – Links & CRM

MOBILE DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT

IV. OPTIMIZE

Web Analytics

KPIs

Conversion

Optimization

ANALYTICS & KPIsHow engaged are people in blinds.com?

Alexa.com Traffic Ranks:All change is over the course of 3 months (Sept – Nov)

Daily page views per visitor: 7.50 (up 5%)Daily time on site: 8:45 (up 4%)Bounce rate: 26% (down 12%)

Global rank: 37,543 (down 2,645)US Rank: 7,883

Who visits blinds.com?Dominated by females (highly overrepresented while males are highly underrepresented comparable to total internet traffic)

Tends toward college degree holders while graduate degree holders are underrepresented

Site visitors from home are vastly overrepresented

Audience geography: 83% from US, 5.9% India, 1.5% Spain, 1.3% Australia, 1.2% Canada

Where do they go on blinds.com?

Subdomain Percent of Visitors

blinds.com 92.93%

blog.blinds.com 21.47%

prod1.blinds.com 5.78%

videos.blinds.com 2.15%

How did they find blinds.com?

18.2% came from search engines (up 21%)Top keywords:

blinds: 12.57%blinds.com: 6.39%blackout shades: 4.03%blackout blinds: 2.55%plantation shutters: 1.63%

 

Upstream sites: What sites did people visit immediately before this site?

Google.Com 25.1%Facebook.Com 7.5%Salesforce.Com 1.6%Youtube.Com 1.3%Yahoo.Com 1.1%

How fast does blinds.com load?1.922 seconds – 58% of sites are faster

CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION

What does this data tell us?

The basic approach to conversion optimization is:1. Gather data2. Analyze data3. Fix anything that’s broken4. Design tests5. Run tests6. Report and repeat

Metrics: 91% of traffic is realStickiness – considered sticky if stay is longer than 30 secondsBlinds.com visitors average 8 minutes on the site

RESULTSBlinds.com was fortunate to be the early front-runner in online window coverings and with innovation and a sound business model has become very profitable.

The evolution of their website and mobile app has created an ease of use that rates them highly favorable in customer service.

Search engine optimization and social media presence are helping to build stronger relationships with their customers.

Despite limited sensitive information, there is always room for improvement.

THANK YOU!