2012 Stanford Technology Enterpreneurship Course

1. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Agenda
Introduction (Hypothesis & Original Model)
Test Method
Test Results
Conclusions
Opportunity Modifications

2. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Business Opportunity Hypothesis
For shoppers to purchase home appliances
who don't have time to read newspaper flyers every week,
the "Smart Shopper Home Appliance Alert" is a service
that reviews weekly flyers from local stores and
sends you information about appliance sales
and promotions.

3. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Original Model
Target Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Demographics: Males and Females, 20-34
Target Population: 261,265 (Statistics Canada)
Estimated target population looking for appliances: 20,000
(7.7% or Total target population)
Estimated customers: 1,000 (5% of appliance shoppers aged 20-34 in Calgary)
Pricing of service: $10 for 3 month subscription
Target Revenue = $10 x 4 (quarters in a year) x 1,000 (customers) = $40,000 annual sales
Expandable Canadian market based on success in Calgary

4. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Test Method
Tested hypothesis with 14 people
Used in-person interviews and online survey
Questions divided in the following categories:
1) Current Shopping Behavior
2) Shopping Problems
3) Solution Value
4) Product Definition
5) Market Potential

5. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Test Results
Current Shopping Behavior
● Shoppers use a combination of online and offline methods to collect price information
● As expected for appliance shopping, only 16.7% use flyers to shop for appliances
● Shoppers are willing to search harder when the value of the product purchase is high
Shopping Problems
More than 60% of people are unsatisfied with the way they receive price information in flyers today.
Solution Value
40% of the people would pay at least $5 for an appliance price alerting service that saved them $100 or more
Product Definition
The service must deliver information using the following technologies in prioritized order:
1) Web, 2) Smart-phone, 3) Tablet and 4) Email
Market Potential
85% of the respondents would be interested in an appliance sale price alerting service

6. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Conclusions
Collected data aligns with the initial hypotheses
Some people would even pay as high as 10%-20% of received savings
Not all respondents would pay for the service, but a significant portion (40%)
would pay $5 or more
Therefore, we will pursue this opportunity in the next phase of the course!!!!

7. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Opportunity Modifications
Modifications required based on feedback & further research:
1) Broaden Market: From Calgary to All of Canada
2) Lowered Service Price: From $10 to $5 for three month subscription
3) Partner with Retailers: Offer retailers access to highly motivated
appliance shoppers for a price

8. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Modified Business Idea
Target Location: Canada
Demographics: Males and Females, 20-34
Target Population: 6.3 Million (Statistics Canada)
Estimated target population looking for appliances: 315,000 (5% of total population)
Estimated customers: 15,750 (5% of appliance shoppers aged 20-34 in Canada)
Pricing of service: $5 for 3 month subscription
Target Revenue = $5 x 4 (quarters in a year) x 1,000 (customers) = $315,000 annual sales
Target Calgary for minimal viable product testing

9. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Backup – Survey Questions/Results
1.Where do you usually get price information for your shopping?
Flyers and paper ads 50.0%
Checking prices online 66.7%
Friends and relatives 33.3%
At the store 16.7%
2. What type of products do you usually check in the flyers?
Groceries and other weekly shopping 66.7%
Hardware/Outdoor activities 66.7%
Home appliances 16.7%
3. How do you receive flyers now?
In the mailbox 92.3%
Electronic communication (Email/Web site etc.) 69.2%
When you visit a store 15.4%
Mobile Phone 0.0%
Other forms 7.7%

10. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Backup – Survey Questions/Results
4.At present, how would you rate the experience of finding the product of your choice from the flyers?
Very convenient 30.8%
Somewhat convenient 7.7%
Difficult 38.5%
Very Inconvenient 23.1%
5. How often do you use websites to look for sales at your local stores?
Very often 41.7%
Only for costly items 25.0%
I only check prices at stores 8.3%
I never look for sales or promotions 25.0%
6. If it was possible to summarize price information from all relevant flyers and provide you with
sale prices for products of your choice, how would such a service improve your shopping
experience?
Very improved 69.2%
Somewhat improved 7.7%
Remain the same 15.4%
Not Sure 7.7%

11. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Backup – Survey Questions/Results
7.If such a service could save you $100 by identifying a product and store, how much would
you pay for such a service?
less than $5 61.5%
$5-10 30.8%
$10-$20 7.7%
$20-$25 0.0%
more than $25 0.0%
8. What is the most suitable technology platform for you to use such a service?
Web 61.5%
Smart phone 46.2%
Tablet 30.8%
Conventional SMS [Phone text] 0.0%
Email 23.1%
None 0.0%
9. When was the last time you purchased a home appliance?
less than 1 year ago 46.2%
in the last 2-3 years 15.4%
in the last 4-5 years 0.0%
6+ years ago 38.5%
never 0.0%

12. Smart Shopper – Home Appliance Alert
Backup – Survey Questions/Results
10.If a service was available to help you find sale price information for home appliances,
how likely would you use it?
Very likely 38.5%
Likely 46.2%
Not Likely 7.7%
Not Interested At All 7.7%
It depends on the cost of the service 0.0%