How I Used My Product Management Learnings to Help a Friend’s Offline Business

It all started when I was having a conversation with my childhood friend who owns a baby product shop in a small town in India.

He asked me, “We have been friends for so long but I still do not know what you do for work.”

I told him about Product Management and tried to explain it with the usual jargon—but obviously, he got confused. Then I simplified: we identify problems that customers face and solve them in a way that’s good for both the customer and the business.

Then he asked me a very thought-provoking question:

“I, as a business, am facing a problem that my sales have been flat for a very long time and now with rising inflation I am struggling. Why don’t you help me solve my business problem—or can you only do it in the tech sector?”

That got me thinking. I decided to use a PM-style approach to identify and solve his problem.

Step 1: Diagnose the Funnel

The first thing I did was analyze his sales funnel:

Walk-ins per day
Conversion rate – how many visitors buy something
Average order value
Repeat rate and Customer LTV (limited to early-age parenting segment)

He didn’t have exact data but had approximate insights:

Conversion rate: ~90% (extremely high)
AOV: ₹1000
Repeat rate: 8–10 times/year
Brand presence: 20-year-old shop with high trust

This suggested the issue was top of the funnel: footfall.

The Real Problem

Footfall had been decreasing steadily for 5 years due to rising e-commerce adoption in Tier-3 cities. His competitors had deep discounts and endless variety. But we had clarity on the problem: Increase footfall.

Step 2: Identify Strengths and Differentiators

We asked:

What are new parent pain points?
How can we turn strengths into differentiation?

Pain Points:

Parents lack structured knowledge in early parenting
Don’t know what products they’ll need ahead of time
Online delivery is slow (3–4 days minimum)

Shop’s Strengths:

Trusted 20-year local brand
Owner gives personal product advice
Can provide same-day delivery

Step 3: Execute the Solution

We crafted a solution to turn insight into traction:

Curated essential packages by age group (0–3 months, 3–6 months, etc.)
Designed an infographic pamphlet with:
- Key parenting tips
- FAQs
- QR code to a landing page
Landing page showed:
- Packages + discounts
- WhatsApp link to order
- Store location
Partnered with 5 hospitals & 25 clinics
- Paid local chemists to insert pamphlets with each order

Results

The outcome was beyond our expectations:

Week 1:
- 140 inquiries
- 80 orders
- 20 in-store visits
Week 2:
- 200 inquiries
- 60% conversion rate
Impact:
- Sales up 130%
- Cost: ₹1000 per center → ₹30,000/month total

Key Learnings

Product thinking can solve offline problems just as well.
Provide value first—trust follows.
Talk to people around you. Solutions can come from unexpected places.

What’s Next?

My friend now knows how to:
- Build & manage a landing page
- Use WhatsApp Business
Next step: setting up CRM and structured retention campaigns using newly collected customer data.