Coconut Lane: Branded Wholesale Retail Inspiration

*Click to read the affiliate disclaimer*

(Last Updated On: )

Coconut Lane. Heard of them? I came across the brand last year the same way everyone else did: bloggers. They were promoting the ecommerce site's very UK lifestyle blog-palatable range of phone cases, prints and home accessories, because they suited the demographic so well. As more and more became ‘Coconut Queens' (ambassadors), it was hard to miss them. So many was promoting, so many were aware of the brand, until there was a breaking point last summer – and a blogger decided to call them out.

It set off a chain of events, with others stating that they hadn't been paid through their affiliate scheme (which is fair enough) but the other reason so many seemed to be against them now was because they didn't believe in the ethics of their business practice: buying from China and selling for a highly inflated price in the UK. I don't know what the problem is.

If you know anything about consumer goods, you will know that manufacturing efficiently is the key to success. It is costs too much, takes too long, or production as too many hiccups, it won't be very effective. If you can buy pre-made products in China for cheap and sell them in the UK for more, you will. It's the only reason most consumer retailers are still around. Are the rules different if we're marketing to bloggers?

The individuals against the profiteering aspect of Coconut Lane have taken their products out of context. If we looked at all products in an objective and practical sense – extracting all marketing – most non-essentials would disappear. It's not as simple as them simply buying from somewhere else and selling it in another country for more. This is fundamental retail. They put in real work to make this operation effective.

Coconut Lane addressed all of this in a reaction post later, and (I think) put all of this talk to rest. With so much competition in phone cases, they should be applauded for being able to pull off what they’ve achieve. It was the right brand at the right time, leveraging the influence of the right people. How much money they made (and continue to make) we won't know, but they seem to have done a fine job thus far.

What we've learned from the Coconut Lane story is that if you're going to sell something online that customers can find far cheaper elsewhere, you're living dangerously. This isn’t actually what they did – but angry bloggers fell for it. In the post stated earlier, they mentioned that they’re reducing the amount of supplier-sourced stock they sell. Private label businesses do this often, but when designs look dangerously similar to ones that can be found online for cheaper, you’re asking for trouble.

I see nothing wrong with the way Coconut Lane go about business. Great branding, great marketing, great promotion. The whole pricing thing is just how things work in real life. Customers want convenience and if you bought the products from elsewhere, you could have been waiting 28 days for it to arrive. That's exactly why retail and online arbitrage through Amazon's FBA is so effective.

Coconut Lane's strategy for growth and promotion is bound to have created inspiration for others to follow in their footsteps. More are sure to follow. If you're one of them, have a secure plan, remain vigilant with copycat competition and please avoid domains with dashes in them. Please.

Note: Oddly enough, I am not a Coconut Queen, and shall not receive any money through commission from this post.