Brand success: by Vivi.| Orderchamp

"The 'potential buyer' function is very nice. This helps us immensely to identify potential buyers. We also contact them weekly."

Which product is your favourite and which is your bestseller?

My personal favourites are our cards with a bracelet with an 18 carat gold plated pendant. I have created and painted each design myself and it's always reflected in our colour palette. There is an incredible amount of time, love and artistic talent that goes into each and every card.

However, the clear favourite of our customers and my team are the Bubble Candles and Dip Dye Candlespeople go crazy for the beautiful colours.

What does the development and production of the products look like?

On the one hand, there are the cards, where an incredible amount of time goes into development, from the first draft to editing with Photoshop to the final print-ready version, many revisions and intermediate steps are required. Production, on the other hand, is no longer too time-consuming for us. The bracelets and cards are made by single moms from Munich, so here I can outsource the work well.

On the other hand, there are the candles, where it is exactly the other way around, here we invest our most time, because we have the production in-house. The first design is much faster by hand, but the production, on the other hand, is incredibly time-consuming, because every single candle is poured or dipped by hand with a lot of love.

Which steps do you have to take to create a new product?

I can explain it to you with the example of our shell candles: Everything starts with a first inspiration, for example in Greece I discovered the idea for our shell candles. Then I look for further inspiration and mood boards for possible designs. 

We ask our wax supplier for advice on which wax best suits our ideas and then first try a few candles without colour until the shape is right. Then we play with colours and decide on the final shades of the candles. 

What has changed for you since our last blog interview in March 2021?

A lot. Back then, I did everything myself from development to production and all the way to shipping from home. That was a very intensive and demanding time. But that already changed in the summer of 2021 with our first warehouse. In the meantime, we have an office with production and a warehouse. Currently, I have five full-time employees and one part-time employee. Two girls are full-time in production, two girls full-time in the warehouse, one full-time in accounting and one works part-time from home in production - and we are still expanding the whole thing, we have a lot planned.

Which products sell best on Orderchamp?

The absolute bestsellers are our large dip dye candles, especially in the Netherlands, these are very popular - and they will soon be one year old. In Germany, pastel set are in favourite. It is the All Day Bestseller, but in general the candle sets are the most popular, these are super suitable as gifts.

What do you like most about working with Orderchamp?

What I like most is that many recurring tasks are solved in an incredibly elegant and time-saving way. One example is accounting. Unlike other platforms, Orderchamp does not act as a middleman, but we have a contract directly with Orderchamp. Accordingly, we automatically get an invoice with commission shown and everything and only have to upload it to our accounting system. With other platforms we have to generate an invoice for each individual order with individual customers.

This way Orderchamp gives us the time to focus on actual activities that we enjoy and that really make sense: Namely, developing great products and delighting our customers.

You have been a member of Orderchamp for a long time now. What has changed on Orderchamp since then?

What I notice most is that Orderchamp has become much more international. In the beginning the market was mainly in the Netherlands, but now you see the focus on Germany, Belgium, Spain and France. For the rest, it is mainly the many features that have been added. One example is the "potential buyer" feature. This helps us incredibly to identify potential buyers. Then we also contact them on a weekly basis.

What are the main differences between online trade shows and stationary trade shows?

The stationary trade shows are a bit more interactive overall, you have to approach the customers more. The inspiration and impressions you gather are of course super, that's hard to show online. But the effort and the costs are of course a big disadvantage. You're happy to drive half a day, it takes a few hours to prepare and you pay a few thousand euros for the stand.

On the other hand, the online fairs are much more relaxed, because the journey and a large part of the preparation is omitted, which saves a lot of time and money. For example, the Orderchamp Digital Fairs are great for presenting yourself and your new products in a simple and straightforward way.

What are three pieces of advice you would give to new brands?

1. Start with Orderchamp. Orderchamp is the easiest way to get started in B2B, because it's the easiest way to do the most complicated thing: bookkeeping.
2. Keep your finger on the pulse. Look around to see what bestsellers are and what is currently in demand. Also, be active on social media and see what people are excited about.
3. The customer is king! Satisfied customers are the most important thing. With hundreds of orders, it is inevitable that something will break during shipping. It is important to offer the customer a fair solution quickly and to always be friendly.
   
   

Do you, as a retailer, want to expand your range with the beautiful products from by Vivi.? Shop them and take advantage of the best purchasing conditions such as: flexible payment terms, free shipping above €250 and low minimum order amounts.