Candy Japan 2017 Year in Review
I am following Candy Japan for years and I like the idea. In its early years the landing page was super charming despite its bootstrapped style. Now in 2017, it just looks aged. I mean the entire presentation, the dull white packaging without any branding and the still unexciting pictures feel like somebody lost all motivation and ambition. No offense, just my perception.<p>I just googled competitors and all of them feel way more vibrant + being more active on social media (I checked Instagram for the first two):<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japancrate.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japancrate.com&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;tokyotreat.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;tokyotreat.com&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wowbox.jp&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wowbox.jp&#x2F;</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.kawaiibox.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.kawaiibox.com&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sushicandy.net&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sushicandy.net&#x2F;</a><p>Building a slick landing page which is also responsive can be quite some work but looking at that competition it&#x27;s a must, sorry. Look, it&#x27;s not that people really need a monthly candy box, it&#x27;s not a rational decision, it&#x27;s something emotional—an impulse buy. So, if the landing page isn&#x27;t even thrilling what should then trigger the buy?<p>Social media in particular Instagram might be a significant marketing channel because Japanese candy and its colourfulness is tailor-made for Instagram.<p>Maybe the business model is also the problem. There are little lock-ins&#x2F;network effects and a low-barrier market entry for Japanese entities, thus all these competitors. There might be opportunities to pivot the business or extend into new fields&#x2F;models. The first thing which comes to mind is licensing successful products for exclusive import&#x2F;distribution to key western markets. Different game but highly scalable. Maybe there more unseen opportunities. If not then selling the business could be an option (after a final revamp re presentation and SEO).<p>However, Candy Japan has still one major strength: Frequently placing stories on social news sites like HN and Reddit which always hit top 10 positions and generate tons of free traffic (should be 20-30k visits per placement which would translate in 200 to 300 subs at 1% conversion).