Forming an Opportunity Belief

There is a problem any online shopper encounters and that is sizing. Sizing is always different from brand to brand, and even in the same brand there can be differences. My opportunity is to make some sort of universal sizing guide to help individuals when ordering online. Companies would have to forward their dimensions to the database of the sizing guide, which would then assist the consumer to attain the correct size regardless of the company. This need has existed since online shopping became popular. People have to return and reorder items currently to meet this need, this is quite inefficient for both the consumer and the seller. Not only because it requires the consumer's time but also employee time to process the returns. Not having to return so many items could in turn increase the productivity of a company. I'm 99% sure this opportunity exists, just because I haven't heard of a universal sizing guide that exists for all brands online.

The prototypical customer to a universal sizing guide can be any age that spends money online to buy a product that requires a proper fit or size. The questions I'll be asking the prototypical customers are those regarding online shopping, products, size charts, fits, etc.

Iteration #1: First, without mentioning the idea of a universal sizing guide, I asked about their online shopping habits. She mentioned the fact that she doesn't shop online too often, perhaps once every few months for a few items. I continued the conversation by asking if she ever has trouble using size charts. She explained that she has trouble using the size charts, since she isn't tech savvy and has to do conversions on some of them. I asked if this leads to having items come in sizes that don't fit correctly. She explained that it is not often, but it does happen that an item comes in the wrong size and she'll have to return it. I inquired about the return process and she explained that it differs from company to company, but it is always a hassle. I then introduced the idea of a universal sizing guide, and she explained that this could really help her while online shopping; because she wouldn't have to do conversions on the sizes. She said that she would be very satisfied with this type of solution.

Iteration #2: I started the conversation by asking how often she shops online. She explained that she shops online multiple times per month. I then asked how she feels about sizing charts that are presented by different sites. She explained the fact that some sites have great sizing charts that are useful and never give much trouble, but some other sites give trouble in how they present their sizes. She also mentioned the fact that some sites don't even include sizing charts. I asked her how often she has to return items because of sizing. She said more often than not since she is constantly buying things, she has to return things. I then told her about my idea for a universal sizing guide that would eliminate most sizing issues across the board with all brands. Asking her what she thought of the idea, she explained that it would be great because it could help for sites that list minimal information or sometimes have different sizing for different model lines.

Iteration #3: I started the conversation by asking how often he shops online. He told me he shops online once or twice a month. I asked what he normally shops online for, and he told me that a lot of the times it is golfing apparel or shoes. Since this was a different answer than the previous two females, I asked if he ever runs into problems when looking for or ordering shoes. He explained that only a few times in his life has he ran into problems such as sizing when ordering shoes. I told him about my idea of a universal sizing guide that could assist individuals when making decisions on shoes. He brought up that sometimes when ordering from different companies he has to go check what size he is in another company to compare the sizes. He mentioned the fact that sometimes some of the conversions he attempts to make he can't complete because the sizes aren't all listed in the different amounts he is looking for. Based on his enthused answer I asked if he would be satisfied with this type of solution for the problem, and he eagerly answered that it could definitely help a lot of people to know their sizes in all the different companies the shop.

From my opportunity I learned the fact that individuals do run into the same problem that I do when ordering different items, and not knowing the right size to order. The most surprising thing that I learned from my opportunity was that it could help in different ways. Such as the conversions from company to company, and just the general help for not tech savvy people.

Most of my original opportunity is still there. My new opportunity is definitely more accurate than when I started. Just by talking to people I would be thinking of small changes and tweaks that could be made to the universal sizing guide, in order to adjust for different people. I think that even thought of the idea that companies could create a space on their sites with their sizing charts, and then the universal sizing guide so that they could compare measurements with their favorite brands a lot easier.

I think entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities based on costumer feedback. In my experience I thought of different things that I could be changing just by talking to people. Talking to people could just be a way of testing their opportunity's model, and getting opinions would allow for entrepreneurs to make their products better and more feasible for customers.