DoorExplore

For fans who enjoy shopping, our product is an app that not only supports the local stores of Indianapolis, but connects users to the community while providing them exceptional shopping opportunities.

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DoorExplore

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

For fans who enjoy shopping, our product is an app that not only supports the local stores of Indianapolis, but connects users to the community while providing them exceptional shopping opportunities.

Team: Katherine Larason (CEO) Public Relations and Strategic Communication Purdue University ‘23 | Ian Gough (CMO) Marketing and Professional Sales Indiana University ‘23 | David Sampson (CTO) Computer Science Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology ‘23| Nitya Ranjan (Principal Software Engineer) Computer Engineering Indiana University-Purdue University ‘22| 2 advisors: Nichole Rough (NextGear Capital), Kyle Untersee (Stanley Security).

Problem: COVID-19 threw our world for a loop, especially for local businesses. A research sample of locally owned businesses showed that 41.3% reported they would be temporarily closed because of COVID-19. This coming January it will have been just under 2 years since businesses started to become affected. As the world begins to open back up, we see events being scheduled across the world. In January 2022 the NCAA will be hosting the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship in Indianapolis, IN. This foot traffic is great for the city, but how can we utilize it to make an immense impact on the local businesses without the stores having to spend extra money to attract tourists (specifically fans) to a store they wouldn’t typically shop at during a football championship? How can we help the fans, most who may be new to the area, navigate their way around the city and connect with the community?

Solution: Where: Our app DoorExplore. What: Turn shopping into an activity to attract more customers to stores and help stores prosper post COVID-19; getting foot traffic for stores who may not be the typical merchandise store. The cashier and customer both have our app. Customers scan QR code specific to the store when they are purchasing something, and they earn points for physically coming into the store and buying. Points can go towards discounts or merchandise; the store can choose what they set up as rewards. Points get shared between each store. How: Work with stores, NCAA marketing team to target people attending games, and VisitIndy to promote the app. Free for users and businesses to use. Revenue streams from stores paying if they want advertising on the app, we would also get a portion of retail sales. Resources: Target user needs smartphone, we would also utilize software development

Market Size:

TAM (Total Available Market): around 1,100,000

  1. Estimated amount of smartphone users in Indianapolis.
  2. Based on number of smartphone users in the U.S. compared to the percentage population of Indianapolis + The estimated number of tourism for the college football playoffs.

SAM (Serviceable Available Market): around 500,000

  1. Estimated amount of tourism traffic brought in by the college football playoffs.
  2. This number is based loosely on the numbers from the 2021 march madness tournament held in Indianapolis.

Competition:

  1. Main competitor is traditional buying patterns or online buying. However, ours is different because if they physically come into the store and buy, they get discounts that go towards merchandise and supporting a small business rather than paying the full merchandise price somewhere else. Other key competitors include Google and Yelp.

Business Model:

Revenue:

  1. Retailers advertising: revenue per click: $.50
  2. Portion of retail sales from scans: 2%

Cost:

  1. NCAA advertising $ to promote app: *small business discount: $5,000
  2. App development: $35/hour

Marketing and Sales: Marketing Strategy: reach out to partners to get businesses to sign up and participate + spread awareness to fans.

  1. Stage 1: Make Aware • aware of the app, how to sign up, connect with partners to advertise product
  2. Stage 2: Contract process • getting people to sign up, sign contracts with businesses because of the revenue aspect
  3. Stage 3: Finalize structure • finalize how the product works, make sure businesses and fans know how to use it

Progress to Date:

  1. March 2021 – Platform trial in Indianapolis.
  2. May 2021 – Presented at conference, develop connections with partners and gain industry interest.

Future Milestones:

July-August:

  1. Develop the app framework
  2. Branding

September-October:

  1. Finalize app
  2. Begin working on bringing on key partners
  3. Potentially start with smaller stores to form credibility, then reach out to NCAA and bigger names
  4. Look for funding for NCAA and VisitIndy marketing

November-December:

  1. Establish contracts with key partners
  2. Sample run the app to current Indianapolis residents to test
  3. Work out faults in the app/marketing campaigns

January:

  1. Prepare for influx of users
  2. Handle customer support/inquiries

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