My friend is considering disrupting the electronics components market in our city

[Gyonka]

I wanted to do a bit of market research to help him out, maybe you guys could offer some of your thoughts?

The idea is to have an online wholesale business that would undersell retailers and be able to offer next day shipping and delivery. For now, his goal is just to offer this here in Toronto, and I think that this is a really cool idea and i would definitely use his service if he could find a way to sell products cheaper than retailers.

Please let me know what you think.

P.S: Sorry if I post this in the wrong thread, i'm new to this forum but so far it looks really neat

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

How many lines does he intend to stock?
How much money does he have to buy stock with?
How many cubic metres of space does he have for the stock?
How long can he live for with no income?
What is his advertising plan and budget?

 

[Gyonka]

How many lines does he intend to stock?
How much money does he have to buy stock with?
How many cubic metres of space does he have for the stock?
How long can he live for with no income?
What is his advertising plan and budget?

For warehousing facilities i think he can manage to afford a 750 square foot location. I'm not sure in terms of inventory, but he has about 5-10k to invest in the business. We are both still in high school, so we can live for a while on no income. Advertising isn't a route that's been extensively explored so far, but i imagine it would be mostly online targeted ads.

Thanks for the reply

 

[(*steve*)]

What sort of components, and what market research has he done to determine the size of his market?

Where I am, one online retailer offers free next day delivery. I have had courier delivered packages containing 40 cents of components. And they follow it up with a physically mailed statement. Thanks to their service they have changed from the supplier of last resort to something that's closer to a first preference.

It is a model that works (for me at least) so maybe your friend can make it work too.

The supplier I mention has possibly hundreds of thousands of products and a good name for quality that has been built up over 75 years. But they started in a lock-up garage...

 

[Gyonka]

In terms of components it would be everything from resistors to motor drivers to all sorts of IC's and anything in between you might need.

We are trying to find a good way to conduct some first rate market research, but for now all we know and can say is that there is a large demand in our area for a cheaper alternative to retail and speedy delivery. Would you mind telling me the name of that supplier? I'd love to check them out. Thanks

 

[davenn]

Would you mind telling me the name of that supplier? I'd love to check them out. Thanks

Its probably Element 14 (ex Farnell) or RS. I will use them often myself because of the free and fast delivery but mainly for the more difficult to get parts
90% of my parts come from an Australian company called Altronics ... they are handy ... 10 mins drive from home ( they will do online orders but I prefer the face to face contact) and I get trade prices from them

The thing is with these 2 companies is that ... altho their prices can some times be a little high, its offset by the fact that between them they can supply just about anything ever needed ... components, hardware, test equip quickly

The $5k - 10k you suggested would be a bare minimum you would need to be able to stock even the most basic range of parts in reasonable quantities

Dave

 

[(*steve*)]

I was sure I posted a link to RS (not Radio shack!) several hours ago. Obviously not.

 

[pilko]

This Guy is doing similar to what you are planning. He does not ship outside the US.
His prices and deliveries are good.
His offerings may give you some ideas.
We are in desperate need of a good supplier in Canada.

Good Luck.

http://stores.ebay.com/Thai-Shine