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FEASIBILITY STUDY
ON FUTURE ONLINE SELLING OF CANDLE RELATED PRODUCTS

EENCY ACCENTS
BENGUET, BAGUIO CITY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 3
2. DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES..................................................................................... 3
3. TECHNOLOGY CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................................... 3
4. PRODUCT/SERVICE MARKETPLACE................................................................................................ 4
5. MARKETING STRATEGY............................................................................................................... 4
6. ORGANIZATION AND STAFFING .................................................................................................... 5
7. SCHEDULE................................................................................................................................ 6
8. FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS............................................................................................................. 6
9. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 6

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Eency’s Accents (EA) is a local artisan scented candle maker cooperative operating in Benguet,
Baguio. Currently, the reach of EA is only confined within the locality of Baguio. Majority of
EA’s sales comes from tourism helping their scented candles be marketed as a souvenir. With
the onset of Covid-19 pandemic however, sales were significantly decreased due to lack of
tourism. The limited market for scented candles locally certainly didn’t help, since the EA do
not offer services such as delivery other than the traditional on-the-counter purchases. It also
has no online shops unlike most of their competitors who are members of online seller
community. With the emerging market for scented candles, EA could explore new market in
the form of online selling by utilizing existent technologies, unique marketing and branding,
and taking advantage of trends and social media to finally bounce back from its recession due
to Covid-19 pandemic.

2. DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

With the ongoing success and surging popularity of online shopping platforms such as Shopee
and Lazada due to the pandemic, Eency accents sought to move its products to these online
shopping services. Due to limitation of chain of facilities for the sale, this local company
mainly operates in local Benguet markets and especially on its souvenir hubs. With the advent
of pandemic and thus reduced tourism, sales for the products drastically decreased, and the
absence of presence in online shopping services made Eency accents unable to find
alternative markets and unable to utilize the growing profitability of online markets. By
introducing Eency Accents’ products to online shopping platforms, new pool of customers
could be sourced as new buyers, and a new bigger market could potentially increase the
company’s profit allowing it to expand on its operations. With the growing popularity of
scented candles among younger demographics due to tiktok’s trending aesthetics, this move
could also bring Eency accent’s wide selection of artisan scented candles to these customers
without necessitating long distance travel to Baguio.

No changes to current selections on Eency’s candles would be considered for this study.

3. TECHNOLOGY CONSIDERATIONS

Since Eency Accents targets to incorporate its brand to online selling platforms already
existing and managed by other companies, no major additional technological capability is
further needed for the sake of creation and maintenance of a locally-run shopping website,

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maintenance of logistics, etc. Requirements for entering Shopee and Lazada’s seller circles
doesn’t require advanced and non-commercial grade technologies.

However, since online selling’s transaction and customer service are all virtual, Eency accents
need to procure or at least dedicate one laptop for maintenance of affairs on online selling
platforms (answering customer questions, updating inventories, etc.). A separate internet
connectivity service must also be availed. All of these are projected to cost 30% of the capital,
but could just be easily offset by the long run profit.

4. PRODUCT/SERVICE MARKETPLACE

Philippines’ online market for candles is profitable. It saw a huge increase in demand and
popularity due to many factors related to social media and pandemic. Just by looking at
Shopee’s leading scented candle seller Essentials & Beyond, 31.6 thousand units amounting
to 9.8 million Pesos has been sold in the course of just 11 months. Some of Eency’s local
competitors for artisanal, hand pored scented candles already explored the online
marketplace for scented candles such as Therapy Clinique and Candle Oils and Prayers.

The market on online shopping platforms incidentally comprises of significant number of

younger demographics. Almost all of these younger demographics are active in social media
particularly tiktok trends. With the rising popularity of recreational candle burning and
“academia” aesthetics which often involves candles, Eency Accents sought to provide these
customer segment with convenient access through third party apps to our products.

Logistics of transactions are managed by the third party application such as Shopee or Lazada.
Bookings and packaging of deliveries are the only logistical parts participated by online
sellers.

5. MARKETING STRATEGY

Eency accents, with its lack of mass production facilities and significant labor pool can’t
compete with existing large scented candle producers. As such, Eency accents seeks to
market its brand in a different light as of its competitors. Its candles would be marketed as
artisanal, premium, all natural scented candles. Eency accents specifically targets younger
demographics appreciating aesthetically pleasing candles, customers seeking high-quality,
custom made products, and consumers living in an all-natural lifestyle. To do this, the brand
would be packaged in glass jars with designs that could be personalized. Standard labeling
designs would also be upgraded to be unique for each “collections and series” of candles,

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marketing a more “diverse and exciting” brand of candles visually. Its packaging would also
be upgraded to divert from the bland brown cardboard packaging into an intricately designed
cardboard velvet boxes similar to how designer perfumes such as Roja Dove are packaged.
Labels would also be emphasized with phrases such as “Hand poured, made in small batches
for maximum quality” to attract customers seeking artisanal products (products made in
traditional manners). Lastly, packaging would also emphasize “Phthalate free”, “Coconut soy
blend”, “100% essential oils made” and “100% cotton wick” to have great appeal to
customers seeking all-natural products. Although most of the labelling packaging strategies
above are also being used by competitors, its unique packaging, can-be-personalized nature,
premium appeal could set this brand ahead of its competitors.

Eency accents would utilize social media promotions. An official webpage on Instagram,
Facebook, Twitter, and Tiktok shall be created by our socials/promotions team. Also, massive
post-and-share promotion of promotional materials created by the aforementioned team
would be launched, utilizing local supporters. Incentives in the form of Shopee discount
coupons would also be offered to customers following, liking, and sharing the brand’s social
media accounts’ posts.

6. ORGANIZATION AND STAFFING

Eency’s shift in local market to online market is projected to cause understaffing due to
predicted increase in demand. New duties requiring new types of staffing also come as a
result of online business venture.

Staffing Position #1: Online Shop Managers: This position will be responsible for monitoring,
maintaining, and coordinating all online shop related activities such as updating inventory,
booking the shipping, answering customer queries, etc.

Staffing Position #2: Socials/Promotions team: This team is responsible for managing the
social media accounts of the brand. They strategize promotions of the products such as
creative tweets, tiktok posts, facebook posts, etc. and are the primary sourcing team for local
promotors.

Staffing Position #3: Creatives team: This team is responsible for designing the labels and
packaging of each products. They also work alongside socials/promotions team in creating
visually appealing posters, shorts, stories, etc. designed to attract buyers.

Additional workers should also be trained in Eency’s art of candle making to ensure that the
influx of demand would be handled well and be sustainable in the long-run.

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7. SCHEDULE

Eency Accents’ online shopping venture is projected to take 2 and a half months from the
project conception to product launch. Majority of the timeframe would be dedicated to
procuring requirements such as internet connectivity and bank account. Timetable below
shows the anticipated schedule of the most crucial steps for this venture:

March 1, 2022: Initiate Project

April 1, 2022: Complete internet connectivity and business bank account.
April 14, 2022: Complete registration to Shopee and Lazada.
April 20, 2022: Complete promotional and others materials.
April 30, 2022: Complete online shop page.
May 10, 2022: Launch day

8. FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

The table below projects the anticipated finances of online shopping venture for Eency Accents.
These figures take into account projected online sales, additional staffing costs, projected
material and maintenance cost, promotional campaign costs, and Online Shopping Platform Fees.

Measure Month 1 Month 6 Month 12 Month 18 Month 24 2 Year total

Online Sales Projection P50,000 P70,000 P90,000 P110,000 P130,000 P450,000

Additional Staffing Costs P20, 000 P23,000 P26,000 P29,000 P32,000 P130,000
Projected Material and Maintenance P12,000 P16,000 P20,000 P24,000 P28,000 P100,000
Costs
Promotional Campaign Costs P4,000 P2,000 P2,000 P2,000 P2,000 P12,000
Online Shopping Platform Fees P6,000 P8,400 P10,800 P13,200 P15,600 P54,000

Cash Inflow P8,000 P20,600 P 31,200 P41,800 P52,400 P154,000

The assumptions are:

 Rate of charge of Shopee and Lazada’s fees would be constant.
 Local sales would be constant.
 No major delays in project.

9. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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All in all, the information presented in this feasibility paper suggests a high success for Eency
Accents to pursue online selling. Approval for opening shops in Lazada and Shopee is
recommended. Key points are summarized below:

Technology:
 Project will not necessitate high-end, expensive technologies.
 Necessary technologies are cheap and easy to operate/maintain.

Marketing:
 Low cost introduction of Eency’s product digitally.
 Expansion opportunity for Eency to sell beyond Benguet.
 Scented candles are in-demand in online markets.
 Opportunity to target wider range of customers.

Organizational:
 Minimal increases to staffing are required with no changes to organizational
structure
 No new facilities or capital investments are required

Financial:
 Steady growth of significant cash inflows.
 Eency’s market range would be more flexible and wide with the maintenance of
online and physical shops – both targeting different demographics.