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eCommerce Web Design and Development in Melbourne

One of our esteemed clients who was running a successful physical store selling bicycle and parts was doing well. In early 2018 he saw the trend that how online sales were growing in Australia, with all ages jumping on the trend and buying online rather than physical shopping at store.

They were wondering about the approach and other costs associated with setting up the entire online operations and were concerned about things like –

  • Having fixed employee cost
  • Training the employee
  • Creating understanding about the platforms and sales channels
  • Putting in all content on the website

When they evaluated the entire setup they were taken a back with the effort that they will have to put.

Good News! they were discussing this with one of their friends and they referred to us “THE MERCHANT BUDDY” as a one stop solution doing the BUILD, OPERATE and MANAGE the online store.

They approached us and we took the entire the hassle away right from the setup to working out all the intricacies. The business owner got the time to think about the strategy rather than working on finer details like adding data to content!

In the next 1-2 months we created a new webstore and launched the business on ebay as well. The content was well laid out and easy for the customers to understand the product and get the confidence that they are buying from a reputed seller.

The results time!

After 3-4 months we could see the business getting traction and whoopie we hit the right spot !

Starting from the very first sale of $119 in the first month, we hit a consistent $4000 sales per month.

Fast forward after a year the business has seen a consistent growth with sales being consistent between $35,000 to $60,000 monthly.

The business has now truly gone from LOCAL TO NATIONAL, starting from selling from a suburb now their products ship to all corners of the country.

Simplifying business operations for a large auto parts selling shop

An Australian online Auto Spare Parts shop that surged initially from the Go Digital Campaign. The company CEO saw a business opportunity in the scarcity of the Online market and launched a successful online store.

Yet, as sales were booming and the customers were coming for more, the business couldn’t sustain such rapid growth. The Merchant Buddy came to the rescue when it was time to revamp their ecommerce architecture and also have reduced the burden of Managing the Website and other channels such as Amazon, eBay, Trademe and Mydeal etc.,

Services provided by The Merchant Buddy:

Migration from Woocommerce to NETO

Online Store Setup

Online Store Management

Product Listings

Listing Updates

Third-Party Integrations

Image Optimization

Multi-Channel

Set up Marketplace Listings

Marketplace Search Rankings

Platform Compliance

Online Store Migration

Online store Maintenance

Technologies: NETO.

An optimized operations management system helped to speed up the company’s logistics and sales processes, and therefore increased the shop revenue significantly. The Merchant Buddy remains a reliable partner to date delivering ongoing support and maintenance services.

eBay Store Management

John had a vast experience in automotive parts and coming from a background of manufacturing, he had developed a passion about engine and braking system parts.

He had been selling products to trade people and wanted to grow on online platforms.

Challenge

With a warehouse filled with stock worth of half a million, it was John’s priority to grow sales on ecommerce platforms. He had been trying to sell on eBay for about 5 years but sales were not crossing $60K a month mark. Things were all over the place and products were not properly listed. Ambiguities with pricing, fitment compatibility and images were also a big concern. In all, whole ecommerce store needed a revamp.

Solution

As eBay was the only marketplace active, we planned to manage the store on it first. Actions involved –

  •  Updating the existing listings
  •  Normalising prices and removing discrepancies in postage policies
  •  Reviving inactive listings
  •  Correcting syncing issues between Maropost (Neto) and Ebay
  •  Making in house stock available on Ebay for sale

In addition to Ebay, other market places were also explored including webstore which helped in creating a brand for the business.

Results

As we started with the correction methods, traffic started improving and converted into sales. In first 6 months, there was an increase of 50% in revenue. As the focus was on in-house products, a sharp growth was observed in this segment and shelf items started moving quickly, helping in cash-flow. International sales went up by 80%. After a year’s time, revenue was increased by 100%.

Scale Your Small Business

6 steps to scale your business

There’s no one formula for scaling a business, because every business—and founder—has unique strengths and challenges. Scaling up a clothing business, for example, is going to look different from scaling up a skin care empire. But there are some common threads to consider:

1. Make a plan for your future

If your company started as a hobby, like in Matt’s case with Hug Sleep, you may have just been going with the flow up until this point.

However, to scale sustainably, you need a business plan. It will not only help you understand your business, but it will be something you’ll need to show if you ever seek out outside investment.

There are different ways to format a business plan, but a basic one should include:

  • Executive summary
  • Company description
  • Market analysis
  • Management and organization
  • Products and services
  • Customer segmentation
  • Marketing plan
  • Logistics and operations plan
  • Financial plan

In particular, you’ll be creating a strategic marketing plan, with a forecast for the future outlining your plans for growth. What’s a realistic revenue goal for a year from now? What about five years from now? What’s your plan for increasing your marketing capacity?

“That was actually a really valuable part of the process for us—sitting down and saying, ‘Where do we want to be? Where do we want to be in five years? What do we see from this business? And where do we think it can go?’” says Katie.

“I think that, from day one, we’ve really felt that Pantee has huge potential to become a household name brand.”

Nail down where your business is right now, as well as where you want your business to go. Use the resources below to get started and consider the next steps in scaling as you create your plan.

2. Evaluate your supply chain

Scaling up means a higher volume of sales and your supply chain needs to be equipped to handle that. What works right now might not work as well at scale.

Pantee, for example, was originally inspired by creating underwear from thrifted t-shirts. They then turned to dead-stock t-shirts, but they can actually be slower to process. Already-made shirts take longer to cut and evaluate for quality, so the brand has since expanded its source materials.

“We don’t just use the dead-stock T-shirts, we also use dead-stock rolls of fabric,” says Katie. “It’s the exact same grade of material, it’s just taken at a different point in the supply chain.”The fabric rolls allow for faster production but with the same commitment to sustainability. It’s even become a feature—getting their hands on a particular color lets them create a limited time collection drop that customers snap up.

Pantee goods are manufactured in Bangladesh at a factory with working conditions that Katie and Amanda vetted, but going overseas might not be the right move for your supply chain.

Matt scaled Hug Sleep while remaining with the same manufacturer in his home state of Wisconsin. In fact, a more local approach can help ease the stress that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on global supply chains.

In either case, evaluate whether your current sourcing and manufacturing processes still function well at scale. If not, you’ll need to figure out next steps.

3. Hire strategically

Scaling up means you may no longer be able to do everything yourself, or with whoever you’ve recruited so far to make your business work.

Katie says Pantee has been running for the last year or so with just her and her sister as full-timers, supported by contractors. With a round of investment under their belts, Pantee is about to take on its first full-time employee.

Specifically though, they decided the most impactful choice was to hire someone to take care of brand and community management.

“Our strategy is very heavy on influencer marketing, ambassador marketing, and our partnerships, and it’s a very, very time consuming element of the business,” says Katie. Taking that workload off Katie and Amanda means more time back to focus on the core of the business.

If hiring is part of your scaling strategy, you should hire where an extra person would be most effective. For Pantee, it was marketing, but for your business it could be someone to work on product or customer service, or sales. Employees are a major financial commitment, so they should be focus on an area that will bring in the most return.

“We’re really excited to see what we can do sort of with an extra 40 hours a week put toward the business,” says Katie.

4. Outsource for efficiency

If it doesn’t make sense to hire your own employee, there are ways to outsource tasks to streamline your business as you scale. Matt, for example, doesn’t have any full-time employees. Instead, he uses an agency to handle all his marketing because he realized it was something a third-party would be better at.

“My background is in mechanical engineering,” he says. “I’m a numbers guy and a data guy. I thought there’s no challenge that I can’t get over.” So Matt tried to teach himself how to launch ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google.

“I tried, and it didn’t work all that well.”

By talking to agencies, Matt finally realized that they could create a more sophisticated campaign than he could, so he outsourced.

He also hit a wall on order fulfillment. He used to pack all the orders himself and drop them off at the post office on his lunch breaks. But that doesn’t work at scale. He now uses the Shopify Fulfillment Network to do the heavy lifting.

Whether hiring an agency or an employee, you should consider where you most need help. If you’re struggling with marketing a small business, it’s only going to get more challenging as you scale up. Decide what aspects of your business would benefit from expertise you don’t have and look into third-party services that can help you out.

5. Automate where you can

Getting things done faster or more efficiently at scale can be made easier with tools designed to automate your workflow.

These can be simple fixes, like how Matt created scripted responses to deal with a heavy influx of customer service inquiries after he appeared on Shark Tank.

Another example for streamlining customer service is using Shopify Inbox for communicating with customers. This tool allows you to utilize live chat—which we know is a fantastic way to increase conversions—in a way that keeps all your conversations in one place, allows for saved responses, and gives you metrics so you can track impact.

Check out these handy bots to learn more about how to automate your business.

6. Seek new capital

Scaling costs money, and you might need to identify the right time to seek outside investment to see your plans through and keep your cash flow flowing.

That timing is crucial. Capital is something you want to secure before you act on plans to grow, rather than when your business takes off and you’re left scrambling for the funds to support it.

Katie knew early on that Pantee would need investment beyond that initial Kickstarter campaign.

“With what our goals were, and the sort of early traction that we had seen, we knew very early on that it was not something that we could do ourselves and continue to bootstrap,” she says. “As much as it really works for some businesses, I think, for ours, it was just too out of scope for us.”

Last September, Katie and Amanda started trying to raise the £200,000 ($261,000) they projected they’d need.

“It’s a difficult process. I think that we both found it to be one of the most challenging things that we’ve done,” she says.

The pitching process means having a solid plan (which is why a business plan was the first step) and fielding question after question from potential investors. Expect some ups and downs—Katie said some pitches went better than others, but they did reach their goal in the end. Once they started hearing “yes,” it gave them confidence to go out and pitch more.

Matt, on the other hand, made a big splash by appearing on Shark Tank. The show actually approached him, and he walked away with a $300,000 deal from two of the sharks.

Capital is something Shopify can help with. The Shopify Capital program is a way to secure funds that skips lengthy applications and allows you to repay using a percentage of your sales. Since 2016, Shopify Capital has made over $3 billion available to thousands of Shopify merchants, and our data shows that shops with this funding average 36% higher sales.

We also know that women and people of color have more trouble securing capital, and Shopify Capital is working to close that gap.

 

Source: Shopify Blog

 

 

Increase Your Brand Value

When Kendall and Justine Barber founded Poppy Barley in 2012 they had sustainability in mind from the start. The co-founders toured countless factories in Mexico to find the right production partner that aligned with their values. Eventually, they did.

The socially and environmentally conscious Canada-based fashion company—which produces leather shoes, bags, accessories, and home goods— teamed up with a factory in León, Mexico. Poppy Barley paid the artisans significantly more than the local wage. The company went on to provide post-secondary scholarships for the children and grandchildren of its Mexico-based team members. This was the beginning of a long-term partnership that embodies how Poppy Barley does business.

Whenever we’re making decisions, we always think of the most sustainable way we can make it happen. If there’s steps that we can take to make it better for the planet, or better for people, then we choose that route. It’s a filter that we constantly think through.

Online shopping and social media purchasing have ushered in an age of unlimited options, making it harder for companies to build lasting relationships with buyers. Companies can make one-off sales but find it challenging to create long-term customers. Leading with your brand values enables your business to capture the attention of customers and distinguish yourself from competitors.

According to the 2022 Future of Commerce report—a study conducted by Forrester on behalf of Shopify—53% of companies are making improved sustainability one of their top priorities for 2022, and 39% are improving efficiency in manufacturing processes.

On the consumer side, customers are increasingly concerned about the companies they support with their money. While words like “sustainability” are increasingly a marketing buzzword, many consumers aren’t satisfied with greenwashing. Instead, they’re doing the research to see whether a company’s claims are authentic or simply advertising. Buyers are more environmentally and ethically conscious than ever, opting to buy from businesses that align with their personal values.

A decade later, Poppy Barley has not wavered in its mission to build a company that provides “luxury for the people” while having a positive impact on the world. In fact, its mandate has only expanded. Today, it’s a certified B Corporation with a dedication to “business for good.” “Whenever we’re making decisions, we always think of the most sustainable way we can make it happen,” says Marina Eckert, Poppy Barley’s Social and Community Lead. “If there’s steps that we can take to make it better for our planet, or better for people, then we choose that route. It’s a filter that we constantly think through.”

 

Source: Shopify Blog

Google Tools for eCommerce

Owning an eCommerce business means constantly being on the lookout for ways to scale up and better understand your business. But for solopreneurs or small business owners just getting started with eCommerce, it can be tricky to know where to go for the right tools to help you grow.

Fortunately, one of the best places to look for help comes from one of the best-known names in tech: Google. This technology giant offers a ton of different marketing and analytics tools that you can harness for your eCommerce business to get a leg up in the industry.

Selling products and services online doesn’t usually bring overnight success. This can make it difficult to bring in new strategies without breaking the bank, or having to hire a marketing professional or data analyst to help facilitate sales. This is where Google comes in. Most of their tools are well-suited for small business use—meaning there’s no steep learning curve or fees.

Every small business should be thinking about tools to help manage their individual needs. Delving into what Google has to offer can help a business owner better understand what’s out there, and get a sense of what might come in handy for current or even future stages of their entrepreneurial journey. So, read on to gain some valuable insights into Google’s best eCommerce tools.

 

Source: lightspeed Blog

Do free samples increase sales?

Of all the markets in this country, the food industry is the most likely to offer free samples. Whether it’s a tray of teriyaki chicken at the counter of a mall food court, or a cheese shop offering unlimited tastes, we’ve all taken a free bite and wanted more. Though this strategy is most commonly practiced in food courts and specialty shops, it shouldn’t end there.

In this post, we share insight into just how effective free samples can be and how you can start offering free samples that will leave a lasting impression on your guests.

 

Source: lightspeed Blog

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