How We Traded An Economic Down Turn

TLDR: photography. 

My tiny Lake District candle company did more in web sales in July than we did in November. Despite school holidays, cost of living and the seasonal unfriendliness. 

Now, partly, I can thank the complete lack of summertime and the Autumn girlies of TikTok doing God’s work for me.

But, that’s not the story. It also rained in 2023 and Autumn has been the best season for at least all of my life on earth. 

We did two key things - firstly, we levelled up our photography. We had one product that kept being ordered thanks to our meta ads.

I remember the photo shoot day well - getting all the pink toned sweetpeas balanced around this tiny candle was an absolute pain. And, I’m glad we pushed through as that product now outsells the next best by 6:1.

The other part of it: this candle is under £5.

Now we do charge shipping on this if ordered directly, so we are making the profit we need to.

But, across all the brands I manage, the ones with a fantastic entry level option have done the best throughout this period. 

Best in repeat purchase rate, best in total customer lifetime value as well.

The hardest part is getting those new customers through the door for a first purchase. Once we’ve got them (as our product is darling!) purchase 2,3 and 4 are lining themselves up for us.