Stand-Up Strategy

Have you heard about Walter H. Deubner?
 
If you have not, you should be ashamed. By simple observation and great insight, he was able to create good business for himself and the same time changed the way we shop.
 
He invented shopping bag.
 
Small business grocer Deubner noticed in 1912 that his customers always bought as much they could carry. Not more and sometimes less. He designed the way for customers to buy more items on one go. He patented the idea and in just three years he was already selling over million shopping bags a year.
 
That invention revolutionized shopping, as we know it.
 
Quite often our consumers would actually buy more, but they do not realize the opportunity or have barriers for doing it. Too often we are too fixed to the traditional way of selling our product that we do not recognize the barriers that prevent current consumers to buy more, or new consumers to enter our category. Coming back to the post I wrote earlier this week about subscription model, there is huge potential in rethinking the way we sell:
 
Could you sell single item in bulk?
Or bulk item as a single?
Physical product online?
Online product in retail?
Supersize it?
Minimize it?
 
Walter H. Deubner essentially created post-purchase service. Consumer journey seldom starts or end in the transaction.