A product story
From Subscriptions to Sales: Building a New Revenue Channel from Scratch
Building an end-to-end e-commerce platform to unlock a new revenue channel for academic professionals.
Year One Revenue (vs £70k Target)
01 / The problem
The situation
before the shift.
The business was traditionally subscription-based, with the bulk of revenue coming from university librarians paying for access to entire catalogues of books, journals, and case studies. However, professionals like paralegals and lawyers needed access to specific academic content but couldn't justify the cost of a full subscription. These potential customers were reaching out through sales and marketing but had no way to buy.
02 / The hypothesis
By analysing inbound enquiries from sales and marketing, an underserved market of academic professionals was identified. Rather than launching broadly, specific niches — such as criminal research — were targeted to trial e-commerce with a focused, marketable audience.
03 / The approach
- Market Discovery: Analysed inbound enquiries from sales and marketing to identify underserved markets.
- Niche Strategy: Researched specific niches (e.g., criminal research) to trial e-commerce with targeted audiences.
- End-to-End Ownership: Shaped the approach, delivery, and go-to-market niche strategy.
- Platform Build: Owned the complete build and delivery of the e-commerce platform from search to checkout.
04 / Execution
- Delivered a full e-commerce platform from concept to production.
- Implemented search, product discovery, and checkout functionality.
- Targeted specific professional niches to validate the revenue model.
- Collaborated with sales and marketing to align go-to-market strategy.
05 / The result
£100kYear One Revenue (vs £70k Target)
Generated £100k in new revenue in year one against a £70k target — revenue that simply didn't exist before. Proved the viability of e-commerce as a revenue channel and opened the door to expanding into further niches.
- £100k revenue generated in year one (vs £70k target).
- Created entirely new revenue stream for the business.
- Proved viability of e-commerce as a revenue channel.
- Opened pathway to expand into additional professional niches.