Lilitab is a bit different than many stores on Shopify. We had an idea for a new product and being product designers and engineers ourselves we designed, engineered and brought the product to market. Creating a whole new market segment is not easy and direct online sales were a critical part of our early growth strategy. Shopify helped us achieve that very quickly without having to spend large sums on custom web-site development allowing us to focus on getting the product right.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
We attended trade shows and promoted online but our first big break came with a great review of our product on a prominent gadget blog. From there it's only been up.
We now use our site to manage not only direct sales but also reseller and channel partner sales.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
Because we started from literally zero third part fulfillment was not going to work for us. When our order volume began to pickup we immediately started using Shipstation, it's a great shipping app and the developers have been great at adding features over time. It's been gratifying to see their app (and the Shopify ecosystem in general) grow with our company. As our needs have become more involved and complicated so has the Shopify platform. Every time we need a new feature or function it seems like someone has added an app that will do what we need in the Shopify app store.
A key part of our store is the product configuration app that we engaged Bold Apps to build for us. It's been a great tool for our customers and is a great example of how the right app can really drive your store's growth.
What are your top recommendations for new ecommerce entrepreneurs?
Find your customers, get to know them really well and tailor your messaging and offerings to them. Once you launch your store constantly pay attention to your customers and how to make purchasing decisions easier for them.