Back in March it was a punt to pitch jigsaws online. Online was crowded with discount jigsaw websites selling at 25% and more off retail and, often, offering free shipping.
Six months on, the decision to offer at SRP and to not offer free shipping paid off. As jigsaws became scarce, price was not an issue. Sales have led to return business, with no queries over price.
Over the months, the offer has been expanded to include more puzzles, not just jigsaw puzzles.
Range is key as people often buy 2 or 3 jigsaws in a transaction. From this we can see age diversity in their product picks.
Click and collect has proven to be as important as delivery. Also, as with any website connected to a physical shop, the website drives in-store purchases. We know this as shoppers come in and often say I saw that you have xx online…
Back in March another hesitation was around the shipping of the products. Safe shipping of jigsaws requires an attention to detail to ensure the box arrives intact and safe. Given that the box will not fit in letterboxes, there was also the factor of parcel delivery and ensuing collection.
After several trials, the process was set and it has worked well since.
Looking at the data, less than 10% of sales are to local addresses and more than half of all shipments are out of state. There is something special about selling to someone who is unlikely to ever visit your shop.