Lessons from b8ta: Achieving PMF (Product-Market Fit) Through Physical Retail — A Visit to b8ta New York
Have you heard of b8ta? It's a store that sells and showcases the latest gadgets and products, primarily in the United States, with plans to open in Japan in 2020.
At StoreHero, our Shopify growth hack consulting service "Commerce Hack" actively incorporates non-digital approaches, which is why we visited b8ta in New York in 2019 to see it firsthand.
What is b8ta?
b8ta operates physical retail stores, but rather than simply selling products, its business model centers on letting customers experience products hands-on and then converting those experiences into data to provide back to manufacturers.
The store features innovative products you won't easily find elsewhere. Customers can try out any item that catches their interest.
A Place to Experience the Latest Gadgets
b8ta is an ideal venue for test marketing the latest IoT devices and unusual products.
When I visited b8ta in New York, I found many products I had never seen before — things where you could only truly appreciate their value and appeal after experiencing them firsthand.
For innovative new products like these, rather than jumping straight into e-commerce listings and running ads, it's essential to observe customer reactions, refine the product, and determine the right sales approach — which is exactly why b8ta is such a good fit.
Not only startups, but major corporations like Google and Amazon also leverage b8ta.
The products on display at b8ta were genuinely interesting across the board. Other customers were clearly having a great time trying things out as well.
A Store Built for PMF (Product-Market Fit)
b8ta can be described as a store designed specifically for PMF (Product-Market Fit) — bridging the gap between the prototype phase and mass production.
We previously introduced approaches to achieving PMF, where web services deliver a minimum viable product to customers, gather feedback, and continuously refine through the Build, Measure, Learn cycle.
The PMF mindset has become standard practice in the web services world, and I believe b8ta is essentially applying that same process to hardware product development.
Going forward, I think stores like this will become increasingly necessary within the D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) context.
Leveraging Non-Digital Channels
The way physical stores and events — non-digital tactics — are used differs significantly between the PMF phase that b8ta targets and the mass production and scaling phase.
During the Launch Phase
Since we often support businesses in their launch phase, we sometimes conduct interviews, surveys, and diagnostics in person. Going through that process makes subsequent sales dramatically easier to execute.
To maximize the ROI of digital marketing, we believe it's crucial to do the unglamorous groundwork of non-digital preparation during the early phase.
During the Scaling Phase
On the other hand, when a commerce business that has achieved a degree of growth uses physical stores and events, the goal is often to generate mass-market momentum.
Beyond in-store sales, these efforts serve as a strategy to drive social media virality and earn media coverage.
The store strategies of brands like Glossier, which we covered previously, and Allbirds, which recently opened in Japan, are strong examples of this approach.
For commerce businesses, the skillful use of non-digital channels such as physical stores and events has a significant impact on growth velocity — so it's worth stepping back from a purely digital mindset and exploring what these channels can offer.