Temple and Webster - an online success story

Temple and Webster is all about the home, providing beautiful furniture and home accessories to Australians. Since their launch in October 2011, the member-only site has generated over $10 million and has arguably grown to be Australia’s leading online homewares store with over 300,000 members.

I feel Temple and Webster standout from their competitors by finding a unique mix of stunning images, highly targeted marketing campaigns and a great end-to-end customer experience. Interestingly all these features can easily be replicated by competitors, so why does Temple and Webster continue to lead the market?

I recently caught up with the co-founder and CEO, Brian Shanahan to understand more about the company and their DNA.

During my conversation with Brian he talked about 4P’s that he focusing on and I think help differentiate the company, People, People, People and People.

People - customers

You need to know your target customers, their needs and wants, where they shop, what they read and watch. You just have to look at the Temple and Webster website and you can quickly identify their target market.

This deep understanding of their target customer permeates throughout all aspects of their activities from product selection through to promotional channels.

What became quickly evident is that they don’t just rely on their assumptions of what customers like, they test and track all marketing activities to see how customers respond and then focus on those services that work.

I personally like their blog as it so well reflects their brand, a visually rich site constantly updated with array of posts from industry personalities, click here to find out for yourself.

People - suppliers

To succeed in the retail business you need to build good long-term relationships with your suppliers. At the heart of the relationships you need to be able to solve suppliers’ problems.

 

Many of Temple and Webster’s suppliers have never sold online, so at the most basic level they are able to create a new sales channel and instantly enable suppliers with access to a new set of customers.

While the site provides customers with generous discounts I think they have created an environment so the discount is not the sole reason for the purchase. They have been able to maintain that dedicate balance between discount and value add.

People - team

Teamwork in many companies is a clichéd term but when you walk into the offices of Temple and Webster you can feel the buzz of energy and excitement in the air.

Creating a great team and teamwork is important in the development of the company. Having worked in the same offices as Brian in the past his energy and pragmatic style creates a great working environment.

Brian and his operational co-founder Adam McWhinney have a great working relationship, commuting together to the office each day provides a opportunity and environment for open discussion about business before the rigour of the day begins.  Brian and Adam also have the support from Temple & Webster’s other two founders: Conrad Yiu and Mark Coulter who provide strategic and investor advice.

Teamwork starts at the top, and the team work displayed by the close-knit co-founders is also clearly reflected by the larger Temple & Webster team.

People - family

It is impossible to build a start-up without a great network of family support.

Startups consume large amounts of time and energy and this does not always coordinate well with family life. A supportive and encouraging family helps smooth the rough edges of a hard day in the office and provides a source of motivation to success.

The Temple and Webster Difference

I have been a customer of Temple and Webster since its early days and always been impressed with the quality of their products and service.

NBN – a high-speed road to success or failure?

Is the Australian NBN good or bad for the Australian economy? We need an NBN but maybe not the NBN Co.

As the election draws closer and the cost of the NBN continues to increase, the debate over the national high-speed fiber network will continue to intensify. At the current costs of over $37 billion, the project should come under scrutiny. We need to make sure the government is spending our money well and more importantly, ensure we have the best digital infrastructure in place.

The national high-speed digital network is a piece of infrastructure that will lay the groundwork for future economic growth of Australia. We cannot reply on our ability to dig stuff out of the ground to provide our future wealth.

The great thing about the future services that will run on the NBN is that most of them have not yet been developed. I was involved in the early stages of the development of mobile data services in the late 1990’s. Over a decade on we now use our mobiles for a far greater array of services than was envisioned at the time. This will be the same of the fiber network.

If Australia wants to be a smart country we need to invest in our future and building digital infrastructure is but one element needed. We need to move the debate from the cost, which will pay itself off in the future, to ensure we have the best infrastructure in place.

I would also like to see the debate move towards how can we roll out the network faster, do we need to the NBN Co to rollout all the fiber and how can we encourage more Australian services to run over the network?

Roll out the network faster

I live in an area where I can access the Optus coax cable network, so I am getting speeds of up to 100Mbps. I am pretty happy with current speeds, but this level of service is not available to all Australians.

The problem and blockages Telstra and Optus faced when they attempted to rollout their network was due to local council. I won’t get into my thoughts that we have too many layers of government in Australia.

I understand that the NBN rollout is viable because these council rules have been squashed.

Private enterprise will invest in long-term projects where there is a viable market. If we provided businesses with the ability to rollout fiber in areas were there is demand we would see Australia gain full rollout of a network faster.

This situation would see private enterprise rollout a network where there is demand for services today and allow the government to focus on marginal and ‘unprofitable’ areas of the country.

Fiber to the node?

I disagree with the proposal by the Coalition that the network should only be rollout to the local node. It will be a fast and cheaper solution but would provide us with a compromised solution; it is like giving you a Ferrari but only allowing you to drive at 60kph.

We need to be bold and take a teaspoon of courage; let’s rollout the network to our homes.

NBN Co

I see there is a need for an NBN Co to provide access to the less viable areas of Australia.

The fact is we have a large land mass with a small population concentrated around our capital cities; therefore it is going to be economically marginal for some parts of the country to sustain a network without government support. These marginal areas are where the NBN Co should concentrate.

My single biggest fear about the NBN Co monopoly is that over time charges will start to increase the way we see power companies currently doing. The Government will be in deficit, it is too easy for them to add a couple of extra dollars to the NBN access fees, a flood in Queensland – add a few extra dollars to the NBN access fees…

Be it the government or private sector owning the network we face monopoly issues, I have not been encouraged by legislation to date that these issues have been addressed.

What goes over the network?

We are a great nation for adopting technology, unfortunately most of this is other people’s technology. As we see the decline of the traditional media sector, the emerging advertising spend is going to overseas companies, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

I would prefer the Government diverts some of it’s spend on the network to encourage more people attend Universities, grow our technology industry and develop our arts sectors.

The real money will not come from moving data across the network; it will come from the creators of the content, programs and services at either end of the pipe.

Let’s get back to becoming a nation that creates unique Australian content that provides a voice of our nation rather than a mass consumer of other countries content. We will be a better nation for it.

The future

The future should be bright for a high-speed fiber network. Lets take off negative sunglasses off about the costs of the network and focus on ensuring we are creating great Australian digital companies and reducing the negative monopolies tendencies.

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Author: +Richard Brock 

Facebook stores - are they a waste of time?

There is no point developing a Facebook shop, customers still want to buy off your site.

One of the most requested features for an ecommerce platforms is a Facebook store, unfortunately this also happens to be one of the worst performing features. This tell me two things, if you are running an ecommerce business it is just not worth putting any time or effort into developing a Facebook store and you should not always listen to your customers.

There are a lot of people using Facebook, understatement of the year, over a billion registered accounts and over 700 million active users. Facebook provides great access to customers but in the ecommerce space it is not the place Australians want to shop.

Most ecommerce platforms will provide you with the basic ability to sync your website products to a Facebook store but this is where the functionality tends to start and stop. Why? Because most merchants are not generating any significant sales through Facebook.

Facebook can play a role in your business, just lower your expectations about the sales that will be generated from the channel.

So what does this mean for my business?

I see no point in getting ahead of the curve when there is currently no market at the other end; there are many other channels where customers are handing over their dollars. As the barriers to entry are low, I would be holding off on developing your Facebook store until there are signs of life.

There is some value in building a Facebook community where you can inform, education and build relationships with your vocal advocates. If your core objective of your Facebook page is a branding exercise, it can help bring your brand to life, then it makes sense.

I am surprised at the Facebook stats for some brands. Mount Franklin water has a Facebook page with over 97,000 likes, to me Mount Franklin is just a bottle of water. Likewise, Kiwi Shoe care has over 76,000 likes, it just shows there is a niche out there everything and everyone.

I feel there is value in running product promotions on Facebook as part of a larger communications mix, even though the empirical evidence shows it is an expensive and poor channel to generate sales. I would love to hear from someone who can provide me examples where their Facebook community has driven sales.

Where do you put your efforts?

Facebook would be great if customers were purchasing on the site or drawing customers back to your website.

With limited time you don’t want to develop content to keep people on other peoples sites, the longer they are on Facebook the more opportunity there is for them to be exposed to competitor ads. I recently heard James Schramko on his Freedom Ocean podcast say, “you need to own your own race course”, focus your efforts on activities that are going to send people to your website.

What should I do on Facebook?

If your business needs to generate revenue then Facebook falls into the nice to have category. Put minimal effort into the development of a Facebook shop.

Like all tools you have available to your online business if you use Facebook correctly it can add value to your business. At this stage this does not include selling products.

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 Author: +Richard Brock 

Book Review - Lean Analytics

I have just finished reading Lean Analytics by +Alistair Croll  & Benjamin Yoskovitz and while the book is fresh in my mind I wanted to impart some of the insights from the book and recommend that you read it.

Let me point out from the start that I am a strong believer in the lean philosophy and also love data so this book did have appeal right from the start.

Numbers, stats and analytics is scary stuff for most people, given the choice between visiting Google analytics or the dentist I think most people would choose the dentist. I am sure like many things that are good for you, you spend a lot less time analyzing and thinking about your business data than you should.

The book provides a great overview of the lean philosophy and then digs into how a company can become data driven. Data driven does not mean you produce lots of reports but data is a core component of the decision-making process.

Any of the top ecommerce companies I talk with are very data aware, it helps them differentiate fact from fiction, allowing them to make better decisions and generate more revenue.

In Lean Analytics they differentiate between vanity and core metrics or “One Metric That Matters (OMTM)”.  The central thesis of the book is that a company should focus on one core metric at a time.

The book runs through a series of core metrics for different online business models, including major section on ecommerce. They then propose and examine how analytics can be used through the 5 stages of a businesses development: empathy -> stickiness -> virality -> revenue -> scale.

Lean Analytics is packed to the rafters with great real world examples making it easy to translate theory into practice.

If there is one book you read this year that will accelerate you I would recommend Lean Analytics. If you don’t like don’t like analyzing data then I would recommend you read Lean Analytics.

Happy reading.


Author: +Richard Brock 

Don’t focus on SEO

Don’t game your SEO results, focus on building good long term results

People often focus on the wrong things, measure the wrong elements and confuse the means with the end result. When you start focusing on SEO for business success you are making this mistake and focusing on the wrong thing.

I am not saying that ranking high on Google is not a good thing, far from it, 88% of Google traffic comes from organic results. However, ranking high on Google should be but one of a range of business activities to boost sales. Not everyone can be ranked number one on a competitive keyword.

SEO is like marathon running, it won’t happen overnight but it will happen.

People obsess about their SEO rankings, often spending far too much money to raise their position at the exclusion of other cost effective promotional channels. Google Adwords is easy to setup but not always the cheapest promotional channel.

What makes up your ranking?

Only about 10-20% of your Google ranking is made up from the on-site technical aspects of your website. The remainder is made up from how well you engage with your customers, how your customers talk about you about you, how fresh and up-to-date your website is and length of time customers stay on your site. None of this is rocket science and can easily be achieved with little time and effort.

How well do you know your customers?

It all starts with your customer. How much time do you spend defining your target market, understanding their needs and who are the people you are attracting to your site? I am sure most of you spend a lot less time than you should.

Getting to know your customer is not an expensive exercise, other than time. Social Media provide a great way to start conversations with your customers or Survey Monkey provides a cheap tool to generate quantitative research results.

With limited budgets and time you need to ensure you get the best bang for your buck. I am a big believer that understanding your customers is one of the critical success factors of a business, you don’t want to solely put blind faith in your SEO specialist to provide your online salvation.

Get out and about

Move beyond your web site and start engaging with your customers through online forums and networking events. It is a great way to learn, gain feedback from customers and create back links to your site.

Conferences and master classes are another way to make contacts with your customers and business partners. While we work in the digital space you cannot underestimate the power of face-to-face time with customers.

Once you start focusing on your customers needs rather than your Google ranking, Google will look after you, as you are the type of merchant they want to promote in search results.

Ranking high on Google search results is great for business but SEO is only one tool to achieving this result.

Happy Googling.

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Author:  +Richard Brock 

The myth of multi-tasking - why it holding your business back

The myth of multi-tasking is just that, a myth. I don’t say this because I am a male; it has nothing to do with Mars or Venus or gender wars. As a parent with two young children I should be at the height of my multi-tasking skills but at best it is chaos and I know I am not alone.

Show me a person who thinks they can multi-task and I will show you an unproductive person.

Let us put the multi-tasking myth out to pasture and deal with the real issues of removing productivity killers and focus on increasing our productivity.

Productivity kills

Here is what I see are real productivity killers:

1. Notifications

The number one productivity killer is email and social media notifications. I have removed all notification from both my computer and mobile. 

I am yet to receive an email so critical that it needed to be read and actioned immediately, unless I was already aware it was coming.

What kills productivity is not the couple of minutes it takes to read and deal with the email but the additional time it takes to get back up to speed on the task at hand along with the sheer number of emails we all get everyday. It is like when a yacht tacks; it takes time for the boat to get back up to speed.

2. Phone calls

I am surprised how many people answer my calls while in a meeting to then tell you they need to call you back, have they not heard of voicemail?  If it is worth having a meeting it is worth being present in the meeting.

If you don’t have voicemail, it is worth investing a small amount of time to set it up.

The road to increased productivity

Batching

Batch or chunk jobs together, particularly for all those small jobs. Allocate a couple of times a day to read your emails and listen to your voicemail.

For my blog I schedule the majority of my social media activities for the week in one session using Hootsuite.

Block out time

When you have important tasks to be completed, block out time in our diary to get the tasks done. If you work in a distracting work environment, work from home or lock yourself in room to get the task completed.

Simplify your life

Get rid of distractions from your working environment that are going to stop you completing your work. I am in the process of moving house and surviving just as well with most of the household items packed away, do we really need so much stuff around?

Be present

Learn to be present in whatever you are doing. I try to always be present with my children, putting the iPhone aside for the short time I get to see them each day. I am always surprised when at the playground how many parents spend large amounts of their time look at their phones rather than their children.

R.I.P. Multi-tasking

May the myth of multi-tasking rest in peace. Focusing on improving your productivity can provide you with more time to spend on your business and with your family.

Time is the one true asset with a limited life; make sure you maximize what time you have been given.

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Author: +Richard Brock 

What is Shopping Cart Abandonment

This guest post comes from VP-ASP

Shopping Cart Abandonment refers to the loss of a customer who is going through the checkout process of an online purchase. Every online business suffers from cart abandonment and this article aims to help by identifying the reasons behind why customers abandon their carts then offers suggestions on how to eliminate them.

Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics

There have been numerous studies on shopping cart abandonment all of which have produced varying abandonment rates of between 55% and 80%.

The folks at baymard.com have collated 18 of these studies to come up with an ‘average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate’ of 67% - that means almost 7 out of every 10 ecommerce site visitors fill up their shopping carts but fail to complete their purchase. 

I’m sure the question you as an online business owner are asking right now is WHY?

Why Customers Abandon Their Shopping Carts and How to Reduce Abandonment

The most common reason shoppers abandon their shopping carts is unexpected shipping costs (as many as 70% of all abandoned carts are due to this reason). Therefore, the most effective method of reducing shopping cart abandonment is to offer free or low cost shipping.

Many online shoppers have come to expect free shipping these days, mainly thanks to Amazon and other large retailers, however free shipping can have quite a negative effect on the profits of your online business. Instead of offering free shipping store-wide, consider offering a threshold such as ‘free shipping on all orders over $100’.

If you simply cannot offer free shipping (for example if you sell large / heavy products), ensure that shipping costs are clearly displayed on your website so they don’t come as a surprise during checkout. 

Below are six other causes of shopping cart abandonment complete with advice on how to combat them:

• Having too many steps in the checkout process – Having a one page checkout feature in your store can help stop customers from getting bored / annoyed due to having to trawl through five /six separate forms. 

• Being forced to register an account before purchasing – most people don’t want to sign up to your website, they simply want to buy your products and leave. Offer a guest checkout option and ask customers if they want to sign up for an account AFTER their purchase. You will have most, if not all of the required information from the checkout anyway so creating an account should be easy for the customer. 

• Hard to find shopping cart – If the shopping cart on your site is not clearly visible at all times customers may just give up. Always have a mini-cart visible above the fold on your website so shoppers can easily head to checkout when they are ready.

• Not being able to modify order – If it is difficult to remove items from the cart customers may just abandon the whole purchase.

• Poor selection of payment methods - Many online shoppers are not comfortable entering their credit card details into an unfamiliar website, offer an alternative payment method such as PayPal to give customers confidence when buying. 

• Ran out of time / got distracted - It is always good to have a ‘save cart’ feature combined with abandoned cart emails, that way you can easily allow customers who abandoned their carts simply because they got distracted a chance to complete their purchase without having to browse your site and fill up their carts again.

Summary

These tips aren’t just for improving conversion rates, they help make for a better customer experience as well.

By applying just a few of these suggestions to your online store, you could see your sales increase while also providing a more pleasant online shopping experience for customers of your online business.

Guest Blog

Author: +Gareth Sales 

VPASP is one of the longest established shopping carts first being released in 1999 and is in use by over 60,000 businesses globally.

Boasting 1000's of features and functions, it is one of the most powerful and business friendly systems available.

With a fully customizable open-source package for developers and a user friendly all-in-one hosted solution for merchants setting up their own online store, VPASP has the ecommerce solution to make your online business a success.