Hands-On Product Feasibility Analysis

Hands-On Product Feasibility Analysis Group 2: Valerie- MA1N0220 David- MA1N0219 BảoBảo- MA1N0230 Amos- MA0N0241

Introduction • In mid 2006, Scott Dunlap and his wife went to mall. His wife needed to find boots on magazine, and she found it from store to store. Dunlap is a man and not shopper, he wanted out of there. He thought “why isn’t there a search engine for malls where shoppers can go online to see if a product is available and where is cheapest?

NearbyNow • From the industry feasibility analysis side, one thing that was heartening to Dunlap was signs that although people like to search and do price comparisons online, they prefer to shop offline so they can touch and feel a product especially for higher-priced items. While online sales are climbing, shoppers still like to be able to feel and touch their products. especially clothes and shoes, before they buy From that idea, the venture NearbyNow was born

NearbyNow • NearbyNow is presently in about 200 malls, was with 50 percent of US consumers within 30 miles of a NearbyNow enabled mall. • The company has captured the attention of several strong advocates. • In April 2008, it raised a fresh round of $11.75 million in funding, which raised its total to $19.25 million since 2006.

Q1: Write a concept statement for NearbyNow. If NearbyNow was still in the star up stage and Scott Dunlap asked you who he should distribute the concept statement to, what would you have told him? • NearbyNow takes the shopping experience to a whole new level by allowing shoppers to compare prices and find out the availability of the product that they are looking for in stores right at their fingertips, making it a hassle free experience for all shoppers

Q1: Write a concept statement for NearbyNow. If NearbyNow was still in the star up stage and Scott Dunlap asked you who he should distribute the concept statement to, what would you have told him? • If NearbyNow was still in its start-up stage, he need to distribute his concept statement to the group that would benefit from this concept the most: • Shoppers and shopping center executives for shoppers, the selling point is that their shopping experience will be more convenient. • Since NearbyNow somehow provides a shopping database, making it easier to search for product and at the same time, compare prices. • For shopping center executives, it would help them increase sales depending on the number of visitors and from there, deriving the number of customers who actually buy from the store visited by those customers. • It is actually a win-win situation for everybody

Dunlap’s Gum shoe research Q2: What types of gumshoe research did Dunlap benefit from, and what additional gumshoe research could he have conducted while he was investigating the feasibility of NearbuyNow? • A gumshoe is a detective or an investigator that scrounges around for information or clues wherever they can be found.

Dunlap’s Gum shoe research • Shared idea with colleagues at work • Talked to shoppers, retailers and mall managers about how to use internet to enhance the retail experience • Talked to >2000 people , some focus groups, some one-on-one “whether people really wanted NearbyNow services” • Reading findings of relevant business research articles, e.g. 2007 study article by National Retail Federation and Forrester Research

Dunlap’s Gum shoe research • Sit on a stool @ local mall, next to mall directory, figured out which store customers were going to. “can I help you..? Tell me if ….? Raffle draw…..$500 gift Certificate” • Additional Gum shoe research • ….finding out about system o taking inventory in different stores • … • ….

Q3: Did you know that the majority of malls in the US are owned by 6 companies? If not, how might you have discovered this information if you were conducting a feasibility analysis for a product or service that would be placed in malls? • Note: 90% of malls in US are owned by 6 companies ( persuading 1 company might lead to having the service in the majority of malls) • No we did not know • Online research about the ownership structure of US malls • Discussion with some of the shopping mall managers

Q4: Complete a First Screen analysis for NearbyNow. What do you learn from the analysis? Point ofview in 2006 • Part 1: Strength of Business Idea

Point ofview in 2006 • Part 2: Industry-Related Issues

Point ofview in 2006 • Part 3: Target Market and Customer-Related Issues

Point ofview in 2006 • Part 4: Founder- (or Founders-) Related Issues

Point ofview in 2006 • Part 5: FinancialIssues

Point ofview in 2006 • Overall Potential • Each part has five items. Scores will range from -5 to +5 for each part. The score is a guide—there is no established rule-of-thumb for the numerical score that equates to high potential, moderate potential, or low potential for each part. The ranking is a judgment call.

Summary—briefly summarize your justification for your overall assessment: • First screen analysis shows us that the business idea has high potential • Has 1 possible bottlenecks: • Founder related issues: founders could develop more contact and social networks in shopping mall business (participate in different business events, shopping malls opening) and meet important contacts. Or use professional online social networks (e.g. LinkedIn) • By focusing on this 1 bottleneck, NearbyNow can develop a successful business since the crucial part (finance) are sufficient to spread this service by recruiting talented employees.

Q4: What do you learn from the analysis? • This easy tool enables us to quickly evaluate all the necessary parts of a successful start-up and help us decide: • if to move forward • or develop some part (industry related, financial or other) more • or go for another idea

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Hands-On Product Feasibility Analysis