This week I decided to research what kind of merchandise my shop could sell. This could create a great source of income, especially because Alpaca Wool has a high retail price, with some coats on Net a Porter pricing £500! I created a content analysis of the merchandise already offered by a number of established Alpaca Farms, the majority of items sold were; Alpaca wool related clothing (hats, scarves and gloves), mugs and toys. There weren't any products that were of particularly high quality or branding other than Alpacaly Ever After. I also researched what walks were available at this time of year from the companies I chose to research.
I also wanted to book an alpaca wool spinning class, to see how easy the process could be done. After contacting a variety of businesses, Angelsey Alpacas offer walks on an infrequent basis, due to their charitable commitments rescuing alpacas who have been abandoned or are ill. Therefore, they aren't entirely sure when they offer walks. It was also hard to contact them, as The book now option connected you to their facebook page. They also don't offer wool spinning classes until summer, when the shearing process happens, but this isn't stated on their website. After messaging, the responses were very inconsistent and took over 3 weeks to reply.
Black Rock Llamas also only offer walks and experiences from April as they said this was their tourist season.
I also contacted Colwyn Bay sewing, as they run wool spinning classes. I sent an email, applied for a class online, and rang the centre and no one replied.
Alpacaly Ever After, had the most modern merchandise, however it was also priced the highest. I decided to order some of their products to review, to assess the quality. The majority of their products were branded as vegan and eco friendly, which is a great branding stance to take, as animal lovers who are on the experience may be concerned greatly with the environment. The knitting needles provided in the kit were made of bamboo instead of plastic and the packaging was also cardboard. However, the pin badge came in a plastic wrapper and all the products were wrapped in plastic bubble. This could counter act the positive environmental friendly stance they are trying to project.
The alpaca wool, was very cuddly and soft and stayed this way even after the wool had been dyed. The canvas bag was also very specific to the centre using almost watercolour style drawings of the alpacas and their names.
I also met with Fabric and Felt artist Stephanie Varley who has had her work displayed i exhibitions and sold personal felt portraits of people. We discussed how I could use a similar style of work with alpaca wool, to advertise my own business by being featured on local exhibitions and selling the artwork to make more profit. We also discussed the types of products I could sell, including Personalised soaps, where custom scents and herbs could be added along with a sheet of alpaca wool to increase how much the soaps foam and add a personalised aspect to the product. She also suggested creating fluffy figures that represented each alpaca, therefore children especially could select the alpaca they walked with as a memento of their time. These were some really unique ideas that didn't feature on any other website by potential competitors.
I also talked to Kath from Big Ideas Wales about potentially creating some merchandise that could be sold nationally in shops alongside a shop, such as artisan blankets and stylish hats and scarves with unique designs. The majority of clothes sold by other businesses, aren't very wearable, they are more branded around being made from alpaca wool rather than the actual style of them.
I also wanted to book an alpaca wool spinning class, to see how easy the process could be done. After contacting a variety of businesses, Angelsey Alpacas offer walks on an infrequent basis, due to their charitable commitments rescuing alpacas who have been abandoned or are ill. Therefore, they aren't entirely sure when they offer walks. It was also hard to contact them, as The book now option connected you to their facebook page. They also don't offer wool spinning classes until summer, when the shearing process happens, but this isn't stated on their website. After messaging, the responses were very inconsistent and took over 3 weeks to reply.
Black Rock Llamas also only offer walks and experiences from April as they said this was their tourist season.
I also contacted Colwyn Bay sewing, as they run wool spinning classes. I sent an email, applied for a class online, and rang the centre and no one replied.
Alpacaly Ever After, had the most modern merchandise, however it was also priced the highest. I decided to order some of their products to review, to assess the quality. The majority of their products were branded as vegan and eco friendly, which is a great branding stance to take, as animal lovers who are on the experience may be concerned greatly with the environment. The knitting needles provided in the kit were made of bamboo instead of plastic and the packaging was also cardboard. However, the pin badge came in a plastic wrapper and all the products were wrapped in plastic bubble. This could counter act the positive environmental friendly stance they are trying to project.
The alpaca wool, was very cuddly and soft and stayed this way even after the wool had been dyed. The canvas bag was also very specific to the centre using almost watercolour style drawings of the alpacas and their names.
I also met with Fabric and Felt artist Stephanie Varley who has had her work displayed i exhibitions and sold personal felt portraits of people. We discussed how I could use a similar style of work with alpaca wool, to advertise my own business by being featured on local exhibitions and selling the artwork to make more profit. We also discussed the types of products I could sell, including Personalised soaps, where custom scents and herbs could be added along with a sheet of alpaca wool to increase how much the soaps foam and add a personalised aspect to the product. She also suggested creating fluffy figures that represented each alpaca, therefore children especially could select the alpaca they walked with as a memento of their time. These were some really unique ideas that didn't feature on any other website by potential competitors.
I also talked to Kath from Big Ideas Wales about potentially creating some merchandise that could be sold nationally in shops alongside a shop, such as artisan blankets and stylish hats and scarves with unique designs. The majority of clothes sold by other businesses, aren't very wearable, they are more branded around being made from alpaca wool rather than the actual style of them.
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