I’ve launched a marketplace for very small food + bev and kitchen goods makers to reach a wider audience. My background is in marketing and I have been doing a pretty good job at driving traffic for basically free but my conversion rate is absolute shite.
I know these products arent for everyone as they are a bit on the pricey side but from what I can tell I am driving the right customers (major US metro areas, 25-40 year olds)
I’m looking for some feedback on what could be causing such poor conversion rates.
Any feedback appreciated!
You didn’t give us nearly enough information to give you any type of actually useful answer.
How much traffic are you generating? What is the conversion rate? 25-40 means almost nothing without knowing if they’re male or female, without knowing their income level, household size, demographic makeup, etc.
25-40 might be great, it also might be trash. Age range means almost nothing.
Are you doing follow-up advertising of some kind? Retargeting? Email followups? SMS?
You have a very niche product, you’re probably going to have to go after a very niche audience - that’s likely going to require very targeted advertising if you want to see higher conversion rates.
If these are also truly handcrafted items, why aren’t you highlighting the makers more prominently? I know nothing about where the items came from, who I’m supporting, why they’re better than something I could get from Etsy, or even Temu, or why the pricing is what it is.
For example, your confetti cutting board. Is the product made by hand? Does it use recycled materials? Are there any reasons it’s worth spending $42 on a piece of plastic that I could get for probably $5 elsewhere? Is the product being handcrafted, using recycled materials, sourced through a specific community? Are kids bringing in plastic bottles to a teacher, who is then using the bottle tops to create cutting boards to raise funds to help their kids in some way or another?
Also, some of your descriptions are… worrysome.
Coasters that can’t be soaked in water? What the hell is the point of having a coaster that you can’t have soaked in water? That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
Maybe you mean it shouldn’t be left completely submerged for more than X amount of time, but as someone who lives in an area with very high humidity - the only reason I use a coaster is to catch all the water from the condensation on the outside of my glasses.
Basically - you’re not justifying your prices with the reason why. Build the story behind each product, why the supplier was chosen, why the product is worth the money, etc.
Finally - one picture of each product? Are you kidding me?
Where are the pictures of the products in their natural setting? There’s a reason that companies like Ikea show compete, staged rooms in their magazines - you need to show people what the product will look like in use, in their homes. It needs to aspirational, so that people will buy hoping to achieve that same look.