How Amazon And Shopify Helped Grow Sales 600% In Two Years
This is a follow up story for Emu Joy. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 4 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hi, I’m Carole, the founder of Emu Joy. I created this business in 2014, a year after starting my first eCommerce business, Rustic Artistry.
During that first year, I taught myself everything I could about eCommerce and was feeling good about my abilities. But selling custom furniture was only resulting in 1-2 orders per week, and I was craving a business that would have multiple orders per day.
Around that time I happened to read a blog post by a home decor blogger that talked about emu oil, and how much it had helped her eczema, dry skin, and inflammation. I was intrigued and researched more on emu oil.
I learned it was safe, hypoallergenic, had a long history of use, and was not very well known. Ding ding ding! That was going to be my next business.
Turns out it was a good idea, as I satisfied my itch to sell many units a day, help people get relief from their skin and pain issues, and have sold over $1M.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
Since we last talked 2 years ago sales have grown significantly, especially the Shopify sales, which are up 600% since 2 years ago. This is exciting because it means I’ve been able to help many more people with their problematic skin, muscles, joints, and hair. The feedback I receive from my customers makes any of the frustrations worthwhile.
Growth has occurred in both the Amazon business and on Shopify, as well as getting a few wholesale orders via Faire.
My net profit was sufficient to afford outside help so I decided to take the plunge into letting outside experts handle my PPC and content creation.
Most of my website business comes via Google searches, so I continue to focus on my SEO. I’ve started working with a writing service to produce new educational articles about emu oil used in various niche markets, such as tattoo and piercing aftercare, topical steroid withdrawal, and other less well-known skin disorders. Some of these have resulted in a lot of customer referrals to other people with the same condition, including mentions in their support forums and Facebook groups.
I am still the only full-time employee but I now work with Product Labs to handle my Amazon account, Copysmiths to create content and am about to start working with Adleaid to handle Facebook/Instagram ads.
One of my favorite new marketing techniques is using Bonjoro to send personalized video messages to all of my new customers. They are surprised and delighted to have the company founder take the time to create a special video just for them.
It’s a great way for me to ask for feedback from them as well, and about 35% of them reply to the video. I’ve been doing this for just short of a year now, and these are the results:
I also use the Winback app to send texts for abandoned carts, and a follow-up text a few weeks after an order to see if the customer is happy with it.
I think people appreciate the personal connection and interest that I show in their satisfaction and well-being. This has helped my returning customer rate to be 38%.
I use Klaviyo to keep in touch with subscribers and customers. Email brings in 25-30% of my website sales. The flows that bring in the most sales are the nurturing series for new subscribers, abandoned cart flow, and win-back flow.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
I’ve handled all aspects of the Emu Joy business by myself since the beginning and finally acknowledged that it was time to outsource some of the tasks.
My net profit was sufficient to afford outside help so I decided to take the plunge into letting outside experts handle my PPC and content creation.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
My goal in the next few years is to increase the percentage of sales that come from the website vs. Amazon. It’s currently 15%, would like to get that to 20%.
I hope to sell the business, probably in a few years, so want all of my numbers to be as good as possible.
Until then I’m excited to bring these products to a wider audience and help people to feel and look better through the benefits of emu oil.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
My advice for other entrepreneurs working to grow their business is to join a mastermind. I meet virtually every 2 weeks with a group of 5 other eCommerce business owners and those connections are priceless. We have helped each other tremendously through all kinds of obstacles, as well as sharing our wins.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
My next hire will probably be someone to handle social media, as I am doing nothing with that currently.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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