Forming an opportunity belief

I believe there is an unmet need in winter wear rental in Bangkok, Thailand (my hometown). The product includes coat, jacket, fur, ski suits and other accessories, which are luxury and high-end brand such as Moncler and Canada Goose. Rental business benefits from buying a lot (economies of scale), which some have partnership with brands for special price deal. Many Bangkokians love to travelling during wintertime, going to European countries and go to a ski trip. Although there are lots of high-purchasing power people who can afford to buy $1,500 jacket or $2,000 fur, there are other factors to support this rental business. First, the maintenance costs are high since most of them require dry cleaning, some fur even require special cleaning which is more expensive (it could cost more than $100). Secondly, people love to post pictures when they are travelling on social media, so there is a tendency that people don’t want to wear the same clothes, especially young adults. Third, the weather in Thailand is very hot: there is no occasion people can wear winter wear. Therefore, with all the reasons above, I think it’s possible to that winter wear rental is an unmet need, especially for young to middle age working women who wants to save costs and changes clothing styles. Nowadays, there are already lots of successful rental business in Bangkok such as fancy costume, dresses, and brand name business. This means that customers are not new to rental business and delivery services are widely used. Also, using social media platform to reach customers is easy.

#1: a 50-year-old housewife who loves travelling abroad

·       Have you ever bought a winter wear stuff and regret because you barely get to use them?

Not really, I do travel a lot and a classic coat can be kept for a long time.

·       Have you ever tried any rental business in Bangkok such as book, dress, fancy costume?

Yes, I’ve tried a dress rental once when I went to my friend’s daughter wedding.

·       Did you know that the cost of maintenance in each time can take up to 15% of price you buy?

Yes, that’s bother me a lot and there’s no other way I can do it to make them clean.

·       Do you feel any uncomfortable about using social media platform or delivery services?

I don’t really stay updated on Instagram, but a lot on Facebook. I’ve never used any delivery services by myself before because my daughter always orders things for me.

·       Will you be interested to rent winter wear instead of buying them?

Yes, that would be nice to try. I’ll rent if I see styles that I like.

·       What kind of winter wear do you think you’ll interested/ buy frequently?

I would say ski wear and accessories because my families go to the ski trip nearly every year in Hokkaido.

REFLECTION: for this customer group, they might not interest in rental services if they already happy with the items they have already bought; they do not pay attention to styles as much as young adults do. The factor that might change their minds is the maintenance costs that they can cut, and if they feel comfortable using delivery services application.

#2: a female university student

Have you ever bought a winter wear stuff and regret because you barely get to use them?

Yes, I’ve bought quite an expensive fur coat and got only 2-3 occasions to use them. Also, in the past, my size changes and I can’t wear them anymore.

·       Have you ever tried any rental business in Bangkok such as book, dress, fancy costume?

Yes, I've tried a lot of rental business because I will get to use them until I’m bored with paying a small amount of money.

·       Did you know that the cost of maintenance in each time can take up to 15% of price you buy?

Yes, and I hate that. Sometimes before sending to dry clean services, I keep them until they get quite dirty.

·       Do you feel any uncomfortable about using social media platform or delivery services?

No, I feel like teenagers at my age all access to social media and delivery services are very convenient. I’ve sent stuff to my friends’ house when I borrowed her shoes, and it only took 30 mins to deliver to her house.

·       Will you be interested to rent winter wear instead of buying them?

Yes, but the rental fees have to be quite low as comparable to the full price otherwise I might buy normal brand instead.

·       What kind of winter wear do you think you’ll interested/ buy frequently?

I think I’ll go with fur jacket because it’s very trendy right now.

REFLECTION: I think there is a high unmet need in winter wear rental for this prototype because they really get used to using social medias and delivery services. Also, they think that rental is worth the money and they also dislike to dry clean. They seem to love products that are trendy; therefore, instead of buying, they might want to have high selections of clothes.

#3: a newly graduate male student

·       Have you ever bought a winter wear stuff and regret because you barely get to use them?

Sometimes, I don’t really shop much. I always make good decisions when buying things.

·       Have you ever tried any rental business in Bangkok such as book, dress, fancy costume?

Yes, I’ve tried a book rental when I was a university student.

·       Did you know that the cost of maintenance in each time can take up to 15% of price you buy?

Yes, I’ve heard of that, but I barely bought expensive clothes that require dry cleaning.

·       Do you feel any uncomfortable about using social media platform or delivery services?

Not at all. Both are very easy to use on smartphones.

·       Will you be interested to rent winter wear instead of buying them?

Yes, if I travel abroad, I would try because I don’t have to buy and take good care of it. Also, fashion changes quickly, I don’t want to wear things that I’ve bought and already outdated.

·       What kind of winter wear do you think you’ll interested/ buy frequently?

I think a coat sounds good, and it’s perfect for my vacation in Europe.

REFLECTION: This prototype seems to give an importance on pricing as they just started working and their salaries might not be high enough to purchase expensive winter wear. They also give an importance on styles and trends as well. The good point about this group is they use lots social medias and delivery service applications.

SUMMARY:

I think the opportunity is still there for winter wear rental services in Bangkok. From the interview with various demographics people, it seems that young adults (university students and working age) tend to be more interesting in this unmet need. I do believe that the business would be in high demand if it can provide fashionable items and keep updating the product. Also, the rental price should be low enough to encourage people to use the service; the challenge is how to lower the price purchase from brand name and maintenance costs as much as possible. Another thing to consider is the income can be quite cyclical: high during holidays and low throughout summertime. Therefore, it’s necessary to have enough inventories during demand is high and earn enough income to cover fixed costs during summertime or non-holiday season.