Case Study
Product/Market Fit Testing
Laucke Flour Mills
https://www.laucke.com.au/
– Case Description
They are renowned internationally for the production of a wide range of high-quality flours for the food industry and home bakers; with a special focus on unique flours such as artisan, certified organic, and mixes for home baking.
Evecutive Summary
With strong demand for Australian quality goods in China, the export opportunities into China are certainly huge. Laucke tried to enter the Chinese market through buying agents/consolidators since 2018. However, it did not meet Laucke’s expectations in either brand operations or sales performance.
That’s where eSharp came in. By working closely with eSharp, Laucke successfully launched their Tmall and JD shopfronts within 2 months with a clear marketing strategy.
Challenges
Among the current top 300 Tmall shops in China, only 3 shops are global suppliers. All the others are local brands.
The unit price of Laucke’s products is 3 times higher than the similar products in China.
The sales performance in the past 3 years in China was poor.
Process
Digging deep into consumers' mindset with comprehensive market research and competitor analysis.
Testing the product/market fit and driving insights from real sales data.
90% of the products Laucke intended to sell to China were Bread mix. However, are these products really what the Chinese consumers need? Tracking and measuring the data helped us make the right calls. According to the testing results, we suggest shifting the focus away from break mix to flours and gluten-free products due to the far better market response. Flours will be the mainstream product considering the huge market demand while gluten-free products lead to great opportunities for Laucke based on the feedback from the target audience.
Introducing 1kg Package Design
Originally, there was only flour 5kg available. New customers are less likely to buy if they have to buy their first taste in bulk. It is proved that 1kg design drives more new customers. Also, the product price is only CNY￥10 more expensive than the average products in the market, which largely reduces the price gap.
Final Result
Worked out a customized marketing strategy for the Chinese market.
Laser targeted the high-end audience and converted them into loyal customers.