Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 8, 1 August 1996 — Targeting the retail market [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Targeting the retail market

Sandy Cirie is an attorney, successful entrepreneur, and loan fund recipient who has developed several husinesses relating to Hawai'i' s specialty food products. Recently she started another eompany - Aloha Hawai'i Marketplace (AHM) - to help small Hawaiian businesses market their products directly to consumers through the use of infomercials and other marketing tools. She made a presentation at OHA' s marketing conference and afterwards spoke to Ka Wai Ola O OHA.

Q. What is Aloha Hawai'i Marketplace? A. The Marketplace is a hui that loeal businesses ean use to help sell their products without the use of distributors and retailers. Primarily it is doing this through the production and broadcast of infomercials on the Mainland. We also plan to incorporate web malls and catalogues into our marketing segment.

Q. Why do you feel there is a need for such a marketing outlet?

A. Small businesses in Hawai'i really have very few outlets to push their products on the open market. Most large distributors won't piek them up because they can't supply enough products to make it profitable for them. The best way to sell their product is through infomercials, mail order, and Internet "malls." When they join a group they are more likely to generate higher volume sales.

Q. Are there any other advantages for businesses to take on this "retail" role? A. Yes. When a retailer sells a product they are really making two profits. One is from the sale, the other is from having contact with the customer.

Having the customer in your store allows you the opportunity not only to sell your product but also to sell other products and to learn something about that customer for future marketing efforts. The wholesaler or manufacturer never gets that opportunity. Every single retailer should know they have to do more than sell their product. They have to create a database of information about customers and target those customers for future sales. They have to get those customers back again. Q. How does Aloha Hawai'i Marketplace work? A. Infomercials are produced and paid for by AHM. AHM also works with networks and cable stations on the Mainland to air the show. When the show is being broadcast, viewers dial a 1-800 number. Orders are taken by an operator who is trained to elicit demographic information about customers and to encourage him or her to buy other products all vendors have to offer. The operator then faxes

the order - plus information about the customer - to AHM whieh then notifies the vendor, whom must then fulfill the order. Members of the hui pay for the time their product is broadcast and contribute 30 percent of the sale to AHM to cover its costs. Q. How well was your first infomercial received? A. We had some bugs to iron out but generally, it was well received. The most popular items sold were ones that had strong name recognition like macadamia nut candy and Kona coffee. Other products included jams and jellies, Hawaiian barbeeue sauce and beef jerky. The biggest problem initially was with a loeal operator provider, a problem we have since corrected.

Q. How ean a company become a member of AHM? A. First of all, we ask that you be in business at least three years. Secondly, you have to be able to supply the product when customers eome calling. Whether your production base is in Hawai'i, or Hong Kong you must be able to satisfy customer demands. Thirdly we have to believe that your product is going to work, if not in Wisconsin, maybe in Japan. Finally, we ask that vendors have mail order already set up and that they be computerized. Aloha Hawai'i Marketplace is located on O'ahu and ean he reached at 1-808-254-5399.

Cirie: small businesses need more outlets to market their products.