How to Make Money Selling Home Decor Accessories
Instagram for Business Interview Series ft Prisca Ayeh of Blaq Decor
Take a look at these numbers:
130 million: The number of people tapping on Instagram shopping posts monthly.
145 minutes (about 2 and a half hours): The amount of time an average Instagram user spend per day.
$992 billion: Estimated global sales via social media platforms in 2022.
$901: The average amount of money an Instagram influencer with 1,000 to 10,000 followers can make per post, according to Business Insider.
Whether you want to sell physical or virtual products, Instagram is a robust platform for breaking into eCommerce.
But you probably already know that just because you can create an Instagram shop in seconds does not mean you’ll make money.
So how do you make money selling on Instagram? What are the proven best practices of sellers?
We’ll explore that in a series of interviews.
This first installment features Prisca Ayeh, a brilliant entrepreneur I’ve bought from multiple times.
I like Prisca’s sensibilities and eye for quality products —she knows what she’s doing and has made her Instagram shop profitable in a short period.
Here’s Prisca:
🔎Tell us briefly about yourself and what Blaq Décor is about
Blaq Décor was established on 09.07.20 to provide delicate ornaments and furnishings for your homes.
Our story began during the COVID-19 pandemic, which provoked a sudden lockdown to contain the spread. This new change completely disrupted lifestyles. It compelled people to rethink the state of their homes to improve certain functions and minimize the tension caused by the pandemic.
Many people had begun reorganizing and upgrading their homes —yet had limited access to homeware outlets.
We discovered an opportunity to solve a problem - Finding the latest trends and making them accessible online at affordable prices bearing in mind the stress on people’s finances during the period while delivering to the last mile.
The pandemic also triggered a spike in online content creation, with creators demanding trendy décor to add style and flair to their content.
We understand that curating decor for your home is ongoing and ever-evolving. That is why we consistently offer unique pieces that bring a personal and eclectic touch to your home decor.
Blaq Décor is a small team behind an online retail store that makes finding unique homeware products simple and accessible.
🎉How do you stay current with the latest trends in interior design and ensure that your product offerings reflect contemporary styles and preferences?
At Blaq Décor, we source unique items everywhere we can find manufacturers and suppliers to help customers achieve their design dream.
Curating a collection is time-consuming. It requires attention to detail, focus, and an understanding of aesthetics. Sometimes we review how functional the product can perform within our geographical target before we make the call.
Styles come and go, and so do products.
With that in mind, we project the trend cycle of some products during sourcing to ensure we are not falling back after a short time.
We’re keen on selecting timeless collections. Pieces that continuously appeal to the taste and reflect the owner’s personality.
A unique product must very often have valuable functionality beyond its appealing form. We understand that customers aren’t likely to spend money on a piece that will become obsolete 12 months down the lane.
We’ve learned that a product should remain useful despite its appeal and have what it takes to fit into other design styles.
🔥How do you differentiate your products and services from competitors in the online interior design retail space?
We're a trendy retail business. That inspires us to be creative and innovative.
We continuously seek out new ideas to stay ahead of the curve and offer customers the best possible experience. That creative drive and eye for the best products help us understand the market in ways many other vendors don't.
Staying above the competition is critical to us. We analyze changing trends and keep up-to-date with the latest innovations. We do loads of research. Pinterest remains one of our favorite inspirational leads.
But aside from digital tools, we also tap into offline networks.
We engage industry players, blogs, catalogs, hotels, travel, and global e-commerce sites are also great places to find inspiration and updates on the latest product designs.
👩🏿💻Tell us your approach to customer service and how you ensure customers have a positive shopping experience
Our customers are the lifeblood of our business.
Today, we've gone beyond building a customer base to growing a community of inclusiveness. And we achieve that through brand awareness on social media, using relevant customer service tools, and encouraging customer feedback and advocacy.
Although we don't have a website yet, we carefully curate our products on our official Instagram page detailing all there is to know about the production in our captions.
A personal experience has taught me that online shopping should be made as easy as possible. Anyone should be able to shop for a product the moment they see it instead of the winy, redirecting pages only to discover that it is sold out.
A simple message to our DM brings you 10 steps closer to having the package delivered to you immediately. Not to discredit websites, we will have one soon as part of our alternative shopping channels. Still, Instagram provides an excellent way for us to shorten the process of discovery to purchase.
💎The design products you use are fragile. How do you handle shipping and delivery, and what measures do you take to ensure products arrive safely and on time?
Last-mile delivery has always been an integral part of our business and, without question, offers great convenience to customers. The feeling of receiving your package delivered to your doorstep can be delightful.
To us, delivery is unsuccessful until the box is unpacked and confirmed to be in good condition.
Our product safety activities begin with our manufacturer
We advise them to conceal fragile products in Styrofoam before boxing them.
We also demand extra protection in the form of a wood casing for products that could be damaged during shipping.
These improvements were influenced by our experience with substantial package damages during primary and secondary transportation, given the nature of our goods in the past.
We heavily rely on third-party logistics for last-mile deliveries and work with partners who, by understanding the nature of our products, help us deliver excellent service.
There are times when shipping delays, and we can't control that. Planning for such instances helps us manage the time between stock shortage and when the following stock arrives.
🤝Share your experience of working with interior designers and other professionals in the design industry and how you collaborate with them to meet their specific product needs.
We're delighted to have collaborated with many interior designers in Ghana to meet our customers' needs. Each designer has unique design signatures, challenging us to broaden our sourcing scope. We’ve often had to assist designers by recommending pieces to help them complete the finishing touches to their projects.
We're passionate about curating products we know designers will be thrilled to find in our collections. During sourcing, we consider these designers' diversified tastes and preferences and handpick products that bring their styles to life.
Keeping tabs and following the works of some of these designers helps us understand their craft and appreciate their choices. Some designers also seek specific products for their projects and come to us to help them find them. And very often, we find them exactly what they need.
🤔What are the challenges your company has faced in online retail and how you have adapted and overcome these challenges?
Instagram remains one of our main shopping channels.
Although the platform is estimated to have over 1.8 billion users in Ghana, it has certain limitations for businesses, as it cannot filter authentic companies from fake ones.
It's common for scammers to run businesses just like any other business, which deters customers from trusted brands on the platform. We painstakingly have to prove ourselves worthy to most customers to purchase from us.
Most people enjoy the convenience of shopping online. However, there is a high risk of not receiving a product after payment. Hence, most customers still prefer traditional walk-in shops for their shopping activities because it's natural and safe.
To survive on Instagram:
We try to be more visible through live engagements,
Showcase helpful product reviews,
Reveal the team behind the brand.
Allow customers to receive their packages before they make payment. Though not an ideal online shopping process, it helps build trust for our business and retain our customers.
🥁Are there any upcoming product launches or initiatives your company has planned?
Blaq Décor is futuristic!
Our business operates purely online currently, with just order pick-ups from our storage. We're progressively constructing our flagship studio to showcase our finest for a touch-and-feel shopping experience.
Product design and customization are areas of great interest to us as a business. Our strategic partnerships with manufacturers offer us the opportunity to brand under Blaq Décor, and we're working on a few sample releases in due time.
Although we have designed a few spaces as retail outlets, we're working towards branching into a full-blown design house that will provide services in design consultation, rendering, staging, and architectural development for interiors in the next few years.
We love beautiful spaces and are passionate about making a dream space a reality.
👩🏾💻Anything else you'd like readers to know?
Every piece purchased by our customers is carefully selected with passion and thoughtfulness. We love what we do and hope our customers receive that love as they shop from us!
Locate Blaq Decor’s physical address at No 112 Nii Osae Ntiful Avenue, East Legon.
Email: blaqdecor20@gmail.com
Digital Address: GD-135-5275
Tel: 0257222259/0261532662
Company News
Ms. Jiljuana J. Coleman - PMP, MBA and her team visited our office last week. Ms. Coleman learned about our work through Mr. Andrew Webster, who led a Design Thinking workshop for African Women In Tech at our campus last year.
Following the recently concluded Nigerian elections, I had the opportunity of being invited by Deutsche Welle for a youth panel on their Facebook page to talk about the aftermath of the election.
The session was hosted by DW Ghana correspondent Isaac Kaledzi and Lagos correspondent Olisa Chukwumah. Other guests include political activist Weyimi Lube, and Hamzat B. Lawal, activist and campaigner.
We congratulate Diana Osei who recently refinanced her tuition for ReadyforWork Digital Career Accelerator.
ReadyforWork is an immersive career accelerator that uses Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help entry-level job seekers and early-career professionals upskill and future-proof their careers with in-demand digital skills and give businesses access to diverse, less-expensive emerging talent pipeline.
So far, ReadyforWork leaders go through the training at zero upfront tuition and only repay upon finding employment.
To learn more or support the project, please visit our website at www.readyforwork.africa.
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Thanks for reading!
I Love you,
Tom-Chris