The 123x Gap Between WFH Product Categories
Happy Thursday weapons,
Shortly after purchasing a new keyboard on Amazon I became Meta’s #1 target for more tech / desk accessory products.
Per usual I grew curious on what kind’ve numbers these brands were doing… So I triple back flipped into some data.
(I think I have a sickness where I can’t help but to think of brand / product ideas in every single niche on planet earth)
Particl showed me the following categories and the revenue in the past 12 months
Ergonomic: $1.6B
Techwear: $4.3M (down 77% YoY)
Desk accessories: $13M
Smart home: $11.4M (20% of it in December alone)
One category does more in a month than the other four do in a year.
Ergonomic’s monthly baseline is $100M to $130M.
Desk accessories did $13M in twelve months.
That’s a 123x gap between categories hahahahaha
But how is the whole category only $13M??!!? Because it’s a commodity trap.
Very low ticket. Easy to copy. A desk mat and a pen holder are tough things to build brand loyalty on. The customer buys one and rarely upgrades.
And more of the math is pretty brutal: $35 AOV, 30% margins after ads, no repeat purchases. To do $1M a year you need a lot of first-time buyers.
That needs to be a customer acquisition machine.
I believe AI will empower a lot more people to work from home or begin to build their home office setups.
And if I was serious about building something to capitalize on that insight, I would rather be building a business with some real margin.
For example selling a well designed $209 laptop riser that ‘reduces neck strain’ is a better business than a $35 printed desk mat.
The Tactical Play
1. Pick one boring ergonomic subcategory
Monitor arms, laptop risers, keyboard trays, footrests. Don’t invent a category.
2. Dial in the target customer
Target the 28-to-45 knowledge worker who spent $400 on a chair and $0 on everything else
3. Use good design to counter position
Make it a home object… not a tech product!!! Ceramic. Matte metal. Wood grain? No visible branding on the body of the product.
4. Triple down on visual identity
Execute on some elite product photography and multiply the output with Ai. Test a ton of creatives until you find the winner persona
Weapon of the Week: Product-Market Fit Pyramid by Dan Olsen
If you’re serious creating a product, run your idea through this pyramid.
An absolutely necessary exercise before you invest any $$ in samples.
COPY THIS BLOCK. RUN EVERY FUTURE PRODUCT IDEA THROUGH IT.
================================
PRODUCT IDEA: [NAME]
1. TARGET CUSTOMER
Who's the one specific person buying this? Age, job, city, what else they own. 'People who work from home' is not a customer.
[YOUR ANSWER]
2. UNDERSERVED NEED
What specific need of theirs is unmet today? Not 'they'd pay for a better X.' Be concrete.
[YOUR ANSWER]
3. VALUE PROPOSITION
One sentence. What do you deliver that no current option does? If it needs three conjunctions, you don't have one.
[YOUR ANSWER]
4. FEATURE SET
Minimum features required to deliver the value prop. Not what's possible. What's required.
[YOUR ANSWER]
5. UX
First-use experience in order. Unboxing through first use.
[YOUR ANSWER]And of course to close out another Thursday brief….. a weekly quote from Mr. Rubin:
Till next time soldier,
Carson
P.S. If you are reading this that means you now have to subscribe to my brand new YouTube channel. !!!!! I am 2 videos into my long form content journey. It is a lot…..