Its difficult to completely automate the supply chain as incoming FBA shipments expire 30 days after they are created. If you're shipping heavy freight from China this is cost prohibitive. I currently "touch" my inventory one time in-between the source and FBA. I'm working on streamlining that part though.
Be sure that your mfgr isn't running off extra for AliBaba, free markets or other channels. Contract mfgrs are notorious about ripping off IP and product.
How is it possible to be sure of that, though? If they're a contract mfg then by definition they've already signed a contract that says they can't do that, so if they do it, they've broken the contract.
Well, what kind of companies do you work with—a printer, and a distributor? Any others? How did you find the ones you work with—and how did you know that they were the right ones? What have you done for marketing—gone to trade shows, paid for advertising, giving samples to the right people, or what? How well is it doing? Have you sales been steady, increasing, or was there a big burst at the start, and a trickle since? Um... that's what I can think of off the top of my head.
Roughly how much did you have to invest in the first couple of sets? Most manufacturers have a minimum order, and I imagine that would be the case for you considering you were getting something custom made.
Keep has no relation to Google's app keep or the keep shopping app that is also in the app store. We realize that there are other apps that use the word keep but we decided that we wanted to go with it.
On one hand I agree with blueyedlion, but on the other hand the cost of too many small transactions could be overkilling.
It makes more sense, imho, something that collects till a goal and then makes a single bigger transaction. The goal can also be useful for motivation (3 more coffees and you reach your 100$).
That's an interesting idea... As we get further along in the process of making payments real in Keep we may discover that batching transactions is the best way to move forward.
I think this is one danger of an app like this... If I was "considering" making a purchase when is it appropriate to say that I should "save" it and when would I have not purchased it anyway?
Either way, I think it is a tool that can be used for good as long as that assumption is understood upfront.
We are looking into that aspect of the app and will likely add some mild forms of gamification to make it more engaging over time. If you don't mind sharing, did you have anything particular in mind?
- sub-goals ("you have already saved x% towards paying of your debts")
- smaller awards (Amount: "$5 saved", Frequency: "3 taps a day award", Time: "you saved something every day this week")
- a ranking (not sure how that would work)
This would not only provide incentive to save, but it would also increase usage, which makes the app harder to forgot/uninstall.
Good luck!
PS: On your website, add a subscribe via e-mail box. Then you can capture people (like me) who would be interested to sign up when you build a native app.