shoptopp
TRANSCRIPT
What if
we could
change the way
people think at
supermarkets?
Summary
1. What’s Shoptopp 03
2. How It Works 04
3. Uses 06
4. Our Value 08
5. Business Plan 10
6. Business Model 12
7. Scalability 13
1. What’s ShoptoppShoptopp is a website and app whose goals are to promote an open community for users to view and review retail products that are commonly found on supermarkets, grocery shops and shopping stands.
More than that, Shoptopp is an original and unprecedented initiative that plans to create an extensive community of smart consumers, as they will prioritize the quality of products instead of their brands.
Our goal is to change the market and the way people make decisions when buying products at supermarkets:
This will not only help consumers
find and rate the best products,
but will also rebalance the
market, by giving smaller brands
the oportunity to compete with big,
popular brands.03
2. How Shoptopp WorksTo better illustrate how Shoptopp works, picture this situation:
An ordinary guy, John Doe, leaves his work at 5 and heads home. On his way home, he remembers that he needs to go to the supermarket to buy some groceries. He’s tired, but he goes anyway. Once there, he buys bananas, vegetables, chicken and cheese. He also feels like buying yogurt. As he stands in front of the dairy shelves that display several different brands of yogurt, he becomes utterly undecided about which to choose. Brands A, B, C and D look more interesting, but how can he be sure about which to pick?
Five minutes later, Mary Doe comes to the same supermarket and she also wants to buy yogurt. She browses the shelves and wonders which product to pick. She then reaches to her pocket, gets her cell phone and opens Shoptopp. She scans the barcode of all products, each containing a rating, with reviews and comments. She compares them, reads a few comments and decides to pick brand C, as it has the highest rating and interesting comments. She then proceeds to checkout.
She made a snap decision right there. She made it quick and made it right. And it was based on impartial reviews provided by thousands of people.
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How Shoptopp works
At the supermarket
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3. Uses
A) General PublicThese consist of first-time visitors or not-engaged users who like to visit the website/app to: • view products;• view product ratings to make a decision on the time of purchase;• read the comments posted by registered users;• check for new and interesting products that have been recently added.
B) Registered UsersThese are similar to the type of users listed as General Public, but which decided to take one step further to participate in the community. Registration will be a simple process, where they fill up a form and will also make “Facebook login” possible, and encouraged. Registered Users will be able to:• view products;• view product ratings to make a decision on the time of purchase;• read comments posted by registered users;• view price average to compare with the products they’re buying;• check for new and interesting products that have been recently added;• suggest new items to be added to the system (items that will be carefully reviewed by the Shoptopp team);• make comments about the products being listed;• make questions to both users and the company;• create a “grocery list” where they can add products that they like best in Shoptopp. Also, it will be a functionality that will help their grocery shopping when at supermarkets.
Cycle of Users
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C) Company PagesCompany Pages (or Brand Pages) will be a section of the website and app where a company will add and remove their own products, highlight or make them less visible and, most important, will gather valuable information about how consumers see their products, rate them and have opinions about them.
This is where Shoptopp starts bringing revenue. In order to have a “Company Page”, the company will need to pay a monthly fee or pay per product listed. When they create a page, only that company will be allowed to add or remove items from their brand. Users won’t be allowed to do that anymore. Users will be allowed to rate, comment and ask questions about those products.
This will create a situation where brands will be compelled to participate in Shoptopp community, in order to have some control over what people say about their products and brand.
For example, if there’s a product that has poor ratings, they may simply choose to remove that item, to avoid bad reputation. Or, if there’s a product that they have just released, they will have the opportunity to highlight it so the public may become aware of that new product or to view people’s experiences and opinions about it.
Companies that signup to Shoptopp will:• have their own customizable page;• add and remove products;• choose products to be featured at the homepage and other highlighted areas;• remove comments that are inappropriate or too damaging to their reputation.
Cycle of Users
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4. Our ValueShoptopp will not be just a way for users to view and rate products commonly found in supermarkets. It will be a thriving community of people who will actively impact in the way brands interact with consumers’ needs. And for the better.
Shoptopp will be a social platform for users to collectively rate products and for brands to interact with consumers and obtain important information about how their products are viewed and/or accepted by people.
With that objective in mind, Shoptopp will:
1) Help Consumers Make the Right ChoiceBy simply reaching to their phone, one will be able to make a snap decision on the go by checking which is the best snack reviewed by users, the healthiest butter or the most environment-friendly cleaning product. Easy. Fast. Get the facts and quality of any given product according to the opinion of thousands. Nothing beats that as a review.
2) Help Consumers Know About New or Top ProductsBy visiting the website or app, one will be able to view products that have been just launched and add those he would like to try to his “grocery list”. When brand X puts a new product in market, the user will be notified about it, and will see in which shops he can purchase it. This user will also be able to browse the top products and add them to his list, which he will check on his phone the next time he goes to the supermarket.
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3) Help Less Popular Brands Get NoticedShoptopp will allow those brands that don’t have too much space in the market to be noticed. The fact that these brands don’t have big budgets doesn’t mean that they don’t produce great products. With the impartial rating system available at Shoptopp, the best will always come atop, no matter the brand.
4) Diversify the Market, Improve the CompetitionWith the accomplishments stated in the previous item, Shoptopp will help create a diversification in the market, helping small brands/companies get more exposure. This is great for many reasons, but the two main points are:
a) Diversified market means better products and more options for consumers;
b) Small brands/companies will have better chances to succeed, thus creating more jobs and avoiding that some markets be kept in the hands of a few companies.
5) Help Brands Promote New/Featured ProductsWhenever a brand wants to promote their products, they will have the chance to do so at Shoptopp. This will be an important vehicle to analyze the product acceptance and understand if it’s currently attending the consumer needs.
6) Help Consumers Find Supermarkets that Have a Specific Product in Stock Another point where Shoptopp will be helpful is through the “find product” functionality, which will let users know where they will be able to find a product that they’re interested. By providing a zip code, Shoptopp will show the closest supermarkets that have that specific product in stock. 0908
5. Business Plan
Our business plan is simple and straight-forward:
1) We aim to create an open community to rate and review products commonly found on supermarkets. Users add/suggest new items as user-generated data.
2) This community helps consumers make decisions on which products to buy based on ratings and trending products.
3) The number of people accessing the website and app grows as more products are added and rated.
4) Brands and companies of the products being displayed in Shoptopp grow interested in being part of that community. That’s when it starts generating revenue.
Shoptopp may generate revenue in 3 possible ways:
Mode A - Income from Brands/CompaniesThe first way of generating income will be by allowing companies that produce retail products to have their own profile page at Shoptopp. That will allow them to manage their presence and assess their reputation directly with the public. Any considerable size brand will be compelled to take part of it when thousands of users rate and comment on their products. The users within Shoptopp community will be holding information that no company can afford to ignore.
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The ways we will generate income from these companies are:
a) The companies will have to pay a monthly fee to have their own page at Shoptopp, possibly having the option to choose different packages;
b) The companies will pay per product listing, in a 1-time payment. For example, if company X wants to list a new type of snack, they will need to pay a fee.
Mode B - Income from AdvertisingAnother way to make money with Shoptopp will be via category-based advertising. As the website becomes more popular, it will appear more interesting to advertisers. When that happens, we may sell ad spots that will directly refer to the kind of product that the user is looking for.
Mode C – Revenue from Supermarkets/ShopsThe third way to generate revenue will be via supermarket localization. When an user finds a specific product that he wants to buy, he will have the option to see where, in his neighborhood or town, he can find that product. His location will be stored in his account when he provides a zip code, or he will have the chance to provide it on the product page. The supermarkets/stores that wish to be listed in this situation, will have to pay a CPM or CPC fee.
Mode D – AlternativesIt is possible that, as the project develops, new approaches may rise. It’s worth noting that the kind of information being generated and held at Shoptopp will be extremely valuable to companies and the general public, and that new ways to explore it are not only possible but promisingly capable of being designed.
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6. Business Model
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7. Scalability
As first, Shoptopp will rely heavily on user-generated content*. They will add the items to be rated by other users. To better illustrate it, picture Shoptopp as a Pinteres-like platform for brands and products.
The community will grow with this “create-and-rate” collaboration system and it will continue until Shoptopp becomes established enough and brands/companies start noticing it.
When that happens, brands/companies will be invited to take part of the community by creating their own pages and managing/adding products. This will require a subscription and will have a cost. Users will no longer be allowed to add products for any brands that subscribe to a Shoptopp plan. They will, however, continue to rate and review any product, and brands/companies will have no control over that. They will only be allowed to add (by paying a fee) or remove their products.
As for internationalization, Shoptopp will display products that pertain to specific markets. For starters, we will focus on the English-speaking countries super-category (www.shoptopp.com). Later, that will subdivide in different national/regional markets, defined by ip region access, such as: United States (www.shotopp.com/us); UK (www.shoptopp.com/uk); Brazil (www.shotopp.com/br); Denmark (www.shoptopp.com/dk)...
* Obviously, users will always be the main power driving Shoptopp, as the whole community will exist based on the premise of users helping each other, but at the beginning, especially, they will generate the content that will later be in control of brands.
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Shoptopp will change the way people buy groceries, the way they perceive brands
and the way they make decisions.
The way it is now, people are biased against small and less popular brands, because they subconsciously
believe that only big brands make the best products. We believe that thought is equivocate and damaging to any
industry, and consequently to the consumers.
With Shoptopp we want to create a system that lists products based on quality. The best products will be
rated and reviewed by real people. Thousands of real people, who dedicate their time to help others decide what products to pick. This will be a totally impartial
system.
Shoptopp is a great investment case because it proposes a real solution to both consumers and brands.