Dan Nephew is the Director of Systems and Operations at Lovepop, a bricks and clicks seller of magical pop-up greetings cards. Founded in 2014, they gained Shark Tank investment in 2015, and last year grew 44%.
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About Dan
Dan joined Lovepop more than two years ago.
He was working for a small consulting company when he came across the business. He fell in love with Lovepop, its mission, and its leadership, and didn’t hesitate when he was offered to come on board.
He has been with them for three Mother’s Day seasons, which Dan says is the biggest season for the brand.
About Lovepop
- Based in Boston, Massachusetts
- With a wholly-owned factory in Vietnam
- Ships around the world but with 90% of their business coming from the U.S.
- Also does wholesale
- Uses Shopify for their website but sells on Amazon as well
Going Headless
Lovepop has recently gone headless, which has given them the opportunity and flexibility to provide a better customer experience.
While Shopify has been a great platform for them since the beginning, the brand got to a point where they wanted to add more advanced functionalities on the front-end to up the entire customer experience, and going headless has allowed them to do that.
Implementation was also done during Lovepop’s off-season, which gave them enough time to work on the transition.
Putting More Focus on Operations
As their products and services grew and became more complex, Lovepop needed better systems to manage their operations.
They implemented Brightpearl, which has provided them with great support for key areas in their operations.
To deliver on their promise of magical moments through pop-up cards and more, backend operational systems have to be robust enough to support that, and Brightpearl has helped in that area.
Operations And Interacting With Other Parts Of The Business
Having a wider range of product categories has played a big part in Lovepop’s success for the last couple of years.
With more selections and options to choose from, complexities have come up in the way these products are offered and delivered. Because of this, the systems and operations team has become involved in every stage of the business.
Requirements of the each unit are figured out ahead of time and the company has made sure that everyone is coordinated throughout a product’s life cycle.
Don’t Say “No”
Dan says their motto is “just don’t say no” and this is especially helpful when working with different teams within the company.
Find a way to make things happen, and work out how best to implement what is needed.
Having The Right Tech Platform
With all the complex and challenging pieces of the business, it’s important to have the right platform and systems in place to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. Having a highly seasonal business also requires a system that takes orders effectively and delivers on time.
Dan again mentions that Brightpearl has played a huge part in Lovepop’s sustained growth and the operations team’s ability to provide what is needed from them.
Saving On Costs Or Increasing Sales?
The primary focus of Dan’s operations team is on sales because the brand is still growing.
As the brand has a limited capacity to invest, they have to make sure they put it where growth can be maximized. So while less cost is important, paying attention to sales and increasing it is crucial.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- Because he is not a book reader, Dan’s tip is to go out and connect with somebody, especially since connection is also a core value at Lovepop.
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Dan recommends both Facebook advertising and email marketing.
Tool Top Tip
- Slack business communication platform
Growth Top Tip
- Dan goes back to the connection piece and says try to connect and interact with your customers, and understand why they bought your products.
Interview Links
Related episodes
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- 187: eCommerce Operations with Derek Richers of Spikeball – right product in the right place
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