SITUATION
This specialty eCommerce store is based in Rhode Island but operates on a national stage. They specialize in offering high-quality pens and refills that contain superior inks. Despite their small size, they compete against nationwide giants like JetPens, Staples, and even Walmart, and Amazon. Their goal is to offer all of their customers the best writing experience at the best price.
This eCommerce company had a great reputation with its loyal customer base but needed help breaking through to new markets and maximizing the value its existing customer base generates. Previous solo efforts at advertising didn’t pan out well, so they came to IMG to take the reigns.
STRATEGY
This eCommerce company struggled for years trying to work out Google Ads on its own. Their ads struggled to serve – with an average 22% Impression Share. And even when their ads did show, the sales they did bring in averaged a -62% ROAS. First and foremost, our mission was to stop the bleeding and to make Google profitable.
To start, we built two new Shopping Campaigns focusing on their two main product categories – Pens & Refills. Our strategy aimed to first tighten the margins on a set budget and then aggressively scale their Impression Share – opening up more opportunities to bring in sales and going toe-to-toe with their competition.
Over the months the campaigns held a strong 200%-300% ROAS at high spending levels. Impression Share grew to and held at an average 50% at the #2 spot – beating out core competitors like Goulet Pen, Pen Boutique, and Goldspot – even coming up over competitors such as Staples, Walmart, and Office Depot.
With their Product Data Feeds both in Shopify and Google Merchant Center being updated and fully optimized, more options exist to segment Campaigns by product type and price point – with the aim to improve margins even further.
This eCommerce company had a functional site from a number of years back. Though now it was time for an upgrade – bringing the site to a level that would help it better stand out and compete. Our Web Team rebuilt this eCommerce company’s Shopify site from the ground up.
Here’s a breakdown of where the old site was, and where we wanted the new site to go.
Previous Site Challenges:
- Not mobile responsive
- Very minimal product filtering – difficult for customers to track down products
- Data feeds aren’t properly optimized across channels or tagged
- Aged branding & minimal design elements to help the brand stand out
- Minimal product images or lifestyle images
- Minimal cross-selling ability
- Limited ability to feature sales or specific products
- Had a small, loyal customer base, but was not engaging them enough to maximize value
Core Improvement Goals:
- Robust and expansive product categorization & filtering ability. The ability for customers to isolate specific details and find exactly the product they need
- Fully optimized inventory feed via Sellbrite – to streamline selling on Shopify, Google Merchant Center, eBay, and future channels.
- Full brand redesign – from logo to brand guidelines and marketing copy. Modernizing and helping to better convey the spirit of this eCommerce company’s unique value
- Expand site tech-stack for optimal performance & UI functionality
- Implement a blog framework for expanded SEO opportunities
- Optimize Shopify & Google Merchant Center for expanded marketing and advertising ability – while also improving Dynamic Product Recommender’s accuracy
Our Shopify Process
Phase 1
IMG selected a new premium Shopify theme as a base framework to build around- one that included many core functionality & marketing features needed. This helped us leverage some of the great site architecture Shopify already offers – saving client costs – and allowing us to focus on designing and custom coding the advanced technology systems and functionality. Every inch of the site was tailored to fit this eCommerce company’s unique needs.
Phase 2
A complete overhaul of their inventory data and product management system was needed as well. All individual listings needed cleaning up and tagging, and the data needed to be synced properly between Shopify, Google, and eBay. We leaned on Sellbrite to help streamline the process in a way that would still allow this eCommerce company to quickly add/edit products on their own – working with them to design an ideal system and providing specialized training.
Completion
Once complete, this eCommerce company had a site they could finally love – and one that better reflected the true soul of the brand. Customers new and old would enjoy a much better shopping experience, while this eCommerce company can have a much easier time engaging with customers and maximize the effectiveness of all marketing & advertising efforts.
RESULTS
Over the course of a year, IMG increased sales by over 250% up from the previous time period (March 2021 – March 2022) – with each month consistently pulling more than double sales than any year prior.
IMG’s paid advertising experts were able to convert Google ads from a money pit into a sales machine – allowing the eCommerce company to invest in Omnisend Email Automation, and eventually a brand new website.
Now with a fully optimized and improved website in hand – This eCommerce company is expanding marketing & advertising efforts with a more aggressive strategy; segmenting campaigns for specific product categories, emphasizing personalization, and running more targeted seasonal/holiday promotions.
“Before we signed up with IMG, We were spending money on Google ads with little results trying to do it on our own. IMG was able to take over our ad campaign and streamline our ads which resulted in lower ad cost, higher conversions, and more sales. We have been very pleased with the results and look forward to the future with IMG’s help.”
CONCLUSION
IMG’s partnership with the eCommerce store strengthened over time, allowing for strategic collaboration in marketing and overall business strategies. IMG continues to support the store’s growth as a consulting partner, providing tailored solutions to ensure ongoing success.
Ready to see your own store succeed? Contact IMG’s eCommerce experts today!
