We have had a great response so far to this competition, and I am excited to see what you clever folks will be pulling together! Even Matt Moore chimed in with some consumer insight, despite a hatred of competitions! In the meantime, I have also received some questions which you may all want to know the answers to (with thanks to CK for doing all our homework).
Q1) Does this have to be a strategy leveraging social media?
A1) No, there is no need to use social media
Q2) does it offer gift wrapping service for x-mas? And does that gift wrap say "bargain" on it (you know, like Macy’s does with their logos). I ask becuz girls don’t want their boys to be bargain-hunting so much for once-a-year holiday. But boys like to save money ;-).
A2) The Bargain Queen only points the way to where bargains can be had. It is not a shop, so there is no additional Bargain Queen branding involved. The gift wrapping will come down to the offer available in-store — either in Sydney, Tokyo, Florida or New York (unless it is available online).
Q3) Does this site have a guide whereas the guy can say "my woman likes little black dresses" and then the guide emails them 3 ideas?
A3) Not at present, but this could be a suggested execution. Remember, The Bargain Queen team have some great technical and design skills — so if you have suggestions for the site experience, please do include them. In fact, they’re offering a manual version of this this week as a test.
Q4) must ask why a male demo and not targeting more females? Is it becuz they already have a good sized female audience? Or just becuz it bodes well for males? Just curious cuz I’m a curious marketer ;-).
A4) There is already a very strong female demographic, yes. And the strongest and most consistent audience is amongst US-based women — hence the shift in focus away from Australian-based bargains.
Q5) Does the site have competitive shipping fees for all over the world? Or do some countries pay more than others due to where the goods are based?
A5) Most of The Bargain Queen’s readers and customers are based in the USA, which has astonishingly good domestic delivery service and rates. But for buyers outside the USA, BQ’s expert bargain hunters find items that you can buy online and pay for shipping from the USA – and still pay less than the retail price in your local department store!