The Business of eCommerce Podcast – Episode 1
The Pandemic Pivot
Welcome to our podcast where we talk to practitioners of eCommerce and share their experiences, successes and challenges with running an eCommerce Business.
Our objective is to bridge the gap between the tools that work for large-scale brands with large budgets to smaller operations that have to box clever and deliver a great return from any investment they make. We want to distill some best practices and principles that every eCommerce business should at least be aware of and more importantly implement in their operation.
On our inaugural podcast, we are thrilled to welcome
Vashti Joseph- Chief Operating Officer at Renaissance Management and https://infiniteage.com/
Nikunj Mehta – Co-Founder at Nutty Delights – https://www.nuttydelights.ie/
Anne Gallagher – Founder of The Beauty Kit – https://thebeautykit.com/
Liz Greehy – Co-Founder of Kilbaha Contemporary Art Gallery – https://www.kilbahagallery.com/
Our discussion today is around the many changes in behaviours as we worked our way through various lockdowns but the experience has been that those businesses who at least had a basic presence where in a much better position to react to these changes.
- You need the right products at the right price
- You need a competitive edge
- You deliver excellent customer service
- You have to have the trust of your customers and that has to be built
So what are the experiences we talk about in this edition?
Infinity Age sells beauty products based on Irish Sea moss as a basic ingredient. Through the pandemic being focused on ensuring that a high level of customer service was maintained so that customer trust was developed and that has helped accelerate the growth over the course of the pandemic. Bringing their Marketing team in-house also allowed them to understand the market better and that coupled with an in-house customer service team has helped accelerate growth.
Kilbaha Art Gallery was a business that needed to pivot in the pandemic from a gallery that had the benefit of a high tourist footfall to zero due to lockdown. In this case, they had the benefit of creating an Online experience previously but it was not core to the business – now they had the opportunity to focus on it and see if it could replace the business lost. It has been very successful in this with the team now selling art across the world. Key success factors we discuss focusing on great content and high-quality images and leveraging existing assets like eMail lists that had been curated over time.
The Beauty Kit is a fully Online business that was born out of the recognition that there are great Irish beauty brands out there and if you curate the right collection of these with the right international brands and match that to great customer service to deliver a real Irish experience and an opportunity for Irish brands to compete easily with external or UK online stores especially in these times of Brexit. Getting local advice through the online channels offers a real difference in terms of not just a commodity or faceless eCommerce store.
Nutty Delights offers unique Pick and Mix offerings – so instead of buying sweets – here are healthy and different snack options. Based on a Retail business that also provided wholesale opportunities they have developed from their original eCommerce offering targeted at travellers and tourists to one now that has come via eBay to their own upgraded offering online. This new platform has grown greatly especially on the back of developing the right eMail strategy as well as being aggressive on providing free shipping on even low-value orders to acquire the initial sales. This has given them a strong base to develop from here.