Rob Boyle is the Head of Marketing at Homespares, a B2B & B2C eCommerce retailer supplying spare parts, accessories and consumables for in and around the home everything from washing machines to powerwashers. They carry over 13,000 items in stock which can be supplied within 24 hours, many of which are their own-brand ranges. Founded in 1962 they now ship about 300 products a day, turnover is around £6million.
Team is pretty small – Rob, a photographer, a marketing assistant, and 2 marketplace focused
Graphic design is outsourced
Widgets:
Channel Advisor for inventory control
Klaviyo for email marketing
Listen to learn how Rob combines ChannelAdvisor with a warehouse system for stock control
Getting Started
Rob got started in eCommerce in 2007, when he was working for a packaging company that only had a one-page website for information on who they were and how to contact them. The company had an insulated box that was easy to shape, store, and dispose of, which Rob thought they needed to get out to everyone because it was a great product. So he found a platform online and started selling insulated boxes.
Listen to learn the advantages of having only one or two products.
Selling Their Brands on Marketplaces
Although ideally everyone would buy from the Homespares website, the team felt they needed to grow and get their product out there. Trying to get traffic to their site would be a slow journey, so they decided to get the product out wherever they could and see what worked and what didn’t.
Homespares has their own own brand, also called Homespares, as well as a brand they bought called Unifit, both of which they also sell to retailers and wholesalers on Amazon and eBay. This allows other people and their marketing skills to sell the product. Homespares supports those retailers and makes sure to never undercut their prices.
Updating Images
Updating the images of 13,000 products isn’t easy. To accomplish this, Homespares started working down through categories. They completed the titles, descriptions, and images in one category, then moved to the next.
Listen to learn how categorically redoing images is beneficial for the customer experience.
B2B vs. B2C
The engineers and shop owners who buy from the B2B side of the business prefer very matter-of-fact descriptions. They already know what they’re buying, they just want to double check fittings and model numbers.
For the B2C side, Homespares fluffs descriptions up a bit. They explain more about the parts and what would fit where, and give reassurance to the customer that they’re buying the right product.
Most Awesome Thing Right Now
Homespares going back to the basics and talking about the history of the company, how ethical it is, and their great customer service, telling the story of how it’s been a family-run business since 1962 and the owners are still in charge.
They want to think about what the customers actually want, what they are looking for, and how Homespares can help them.
Adding B2C to Your Existing B2B
For a company considering adding B2C, Rob recommends first seeing what your competition is doing. Check their websites and how they are making it work. If you can’t find anyone else in the space who has made it work, it may not work for you, either.
Listen to learn how to utilize similarweb.com to compare websites.
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience, for advertising and to analyse our traffic. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.Got it!RejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
