This is the first retailer interview in our 2019 eCommerce MasterPlan Growth Series sponsored by Omnisend, the all-in-one marketing automation platform that empowers ecommerce marketers to boost sales with omnichannel tools and in this episode we get a masterclass in eCommerce growth from one of Australia’s cleverest eCommerce brains. Covering a whole host of topics including CRO, remarketing, SEO, and abandoned carts.
I’m really excited to be chatting with Dave Diamond today – he’s the eCommerce brains behind several businesses in Australia. Originally the founder of Colourblocker a source of dropshipped products for sellers In 2014 he founded Zumi – growing it to 7-figure turnover, and to be Australia’s number 1 electronics interest free retailer, he recently sold his interest in Zumi, and now works with a number of eCommerce businesses including Cactus Watches.com – Australia’s Favourite Kid’s Watch Brand. Wow!
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From Flash Sites to Consumer Retail
After quitting his job as an agency Art Director and traveling through South America, Dave found himself home in Australia and unemployed. He got started in eCommerce through flash group deal sites, which at the time were just beginning to gain popularity. He was among the first to notice that products–albeit boring ones–were showing up in these spaces. David decided that it would be a good opportunity for him to get into online business and begin selling items sourced from China. He started by sourcing products that cost around $1.00, were made of silicon, could be sold for $10.00 and shipped in an envelope. Dave was relentless in making the system lean and efficient from the get-go. Among their first products was a popular iPhone stand which sold 5,000 units in the space of 12 hours—a success that allowed Dave to move his business forward.
While ColourBlocker continued to provide items through deal sites, Dave gradually shifted the focus to the retail side and selling directly to consumers. He was heavily influenced by the site Fab which at the time was one of the few examples of a beautifully curated online product shop. He was impressed by their overall presentation and their well crafted marketing.
Moving to Zumi and the Importance of Payments
After Dave left ColourBlocker, he went on to found Zumi which is now Australia’s number one interest free retailer with a seven figure valuation. Dave says that he was inspired to offer high end products to everyday Australians after visiting several factories in China where products from Bose and other high end manufactures are produced. Dave saw the opportunity to access a market that wanted to invest in better quality goods, but didn’t have the same kind of disposable income. Dave’s vision for Zumi was that it would present like a fashion boutique for electronics. He wanted to offer a well curated platform and products at a lower price point.
Dave credits offering a number of different, interest free payment options to the success of Zumi. Working with a company called ZipPay, Zumi was able to successfully qualify and set up payment options for consumers using just their Facebook account at the time of check out. Dave says this kind of flexibility was a game changer for the business.
Make Paying Easy
Making payments easy for your customers is a great strategy for success. Not only do payment solutions make your products accessible to a larger range of consumers, but they are a powerful tool for conversion optimization. When you give customers multiple options to pay, they generally will. You need to think about how people are spending their money online and meet them there with an appropriate option. Using options like ZipPay allows customers to purchase quality products today instead of going for lower quality products. It’s an investment that your customers then have the flexibility to pay off interest free.
Work with Abandoned Carts
Dave loves abandoned carts and says they are the perfect opportunity to remarket to your potential customer. He says that he’ll send upwards of 7 emails reminding someone they still have an item in their cart. Especially with considered purchases, reminding people that there is still an opportunity to buy is hugely helpful in bringing them around. There are several ways to deal with this including email marketing, Facebook messenger and chat bots, but Dave says his favorite is remarketing. When you do remarketing, you can reinforce your brand message and SEO strategy keywords. Dave says they used terms like “pay later” and “interest free” to entice customers back.
eCommerce Book Top Tip(s!)
- The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
- Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler
- Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
And some podcasts!
- The Unofficial Shopify Podcast with Kurt Elster
- Altucher Confidential with James Altucher
- Found My Fitness with Dr. Rhonda Patrick
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- SEO strategies
Use Google as a tool; see what customers are searching for, look at your competitors, appropriate, copy and make better the search terms they are using.
You can hear about all this on the podcast, for free – right now…
Tool Top Tip
- Google Tools
- Trello
- Asana
Growth Top Tip
- Question how you want to grow. Can you make your existing customer base more profitable by increasing AOVs or other strategies?
- Offer a variety of payment solutions.
Interview Links
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