Candles
Whether it is a romantic dinner for two, to top a birthday cake, or simply in case of a power cut electric light has failed to eclipse candle light completely. In fact with sales at more than US$2 billion per year in the USA alone I wonder whether I am theonly one who continues to flick a light switch anymore.
The national candle association (www.candles.org/about_facts.html) tells me that 7/10 households use candles and that 95% are bought by women. There are over 10,000 scents which are a key factor in deciding upon a candle, and 35% of sales take place during the Xmas season.
There are other clues on the NCA website that may help you to differentiate yourself and your product. For example “Candle purchasers say they view candles as an appropriate gift for the holidays (76%), as a house warming gift (74%), a hostess/dinner party gift (66%), a thank you (61%) and as adult birthday gifts (58%)”.
A simple search for “candles” brings up 32 million hits on Google, and a search on Ebay delivers a whopping 24800 results. Clearly this is big business and very competitive, and yet surprisingly there are plenty of small players in the market.
If you decide that this is an industry that interests you then clearly you will need to stand out from the crowd. We have the following ideas: -
Ebay
Website
Advertise (Direct Response)
Article submission
Craft & Trade fairs
Given that the NCA tells us clearly on their website that 75% of respondents said that scent was very important or important in their purchase decision it is interesting that only 4 advertisers have used these key words in their Ebay adverts. Given the number of advertisers it should not be difficult to stand out from the crowd with a little logical thought and some solid research into candle buying habits.
Website owners seem to be a little smarter than Ebay sellers with 1.5 million results for scented candles. If you add a term for the type of candles such as pillar or container and search on say “scented pillar candles” you come down to about 400,000 results. A good SEO firm can probably get you to the top of this list. If that is still too competitive for you overture tells me that there were 511 searches for “candle dripless” in March alone and this has only 50,000 results on Google. Try looking at: - http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ whatever your website they can show you the propensity of people using your chosen keywords. Regardless of the competition you should have a website so that your customers can use it as both a reference and a touch point with your business.
The NCA has given you the pointers again if you read their research. Don’t advertise in mixed readership media. You want to aim for women (95% of purchasers) and ideally gift purchasers in the holiday season. This will put you front and centre for the highest propensity group of candle buyers in the US. Whether you advertise a product for direct response orders, a physical business, or a website this is where you will find the most success. You can try female sections of local newspapers, decorating magazines, and even gift catalogues.
You could write an article about running a candle business, or how the use of candles has changed over time, how (with 400 US manufacturers) the candle industry upholds Middle America, and all sorts of other subjects. A little research and some time should give you a nice selection of articles that you can submit to local newspapers, or even national magazines. These publications are always looking out for material that they can use, especially if you are willing to trade the article for a mention for your business as opposed to payment. There are also plenty of article submission sites such as www.articlewheel.com where you can post your articles and allow other web users to re-publish them at no cost, but on the proviso that they include a resource box with your website and email information.
Trade fairs can be great but remember that the major US manufacturers carry more than 1000 product lines and you will realise that you had better have something unique to show. You are unlikely to be the cheapest or the largest supplier, but if you can find a pitch or Unique Selling proposition (USP) that appeals to the right buyer you could pay for your stand many times over.
Given the number of manufacturers in the US it seems that there is little point trying to source your candles from abroad. If you want to start cheaply then you can even buy in bulk on Ebay, break up the lots and sell again at a profit.
It is possible to manufacture your own candles. My understanding is that the process is messy (stinky) but not difficult. The hand-made tag may be all you need to stand out from the crowd, or perhaps you could add a secret ingredient to enhance the smell. Read the basics on e-how at www.ehow.com/how_1191_make-candles.html
Competition does not mean that you can’t make money. 90% of candles in the US are sold through the NCAs members but at a $2bn industry that leave $200 million on the table for the non-members!