My partner and I went on a 5 week surf trip to Costa Rica.
A few days before our journey back to San Diego, we stumbled upon 2 local Costa Rican artisans making bracelets on a little table and selling them to tourists just like ourself. Today, 3 years later, we now provide full-time jobs to over 30 artisans and support the lives of their family members. We also created bracelets for 175 different charity partners and in 2013 were able to donate $137,734 to them. To date we are distributed in over 2,500 retail stores around the world and have sold over 2,000,000 hand-made bracelets from Costa Rica!
What are the key factors that have helped your store be successful?
Our online store is very easy to use, navigate, and shop. Once on our site, our email marketing, social media marketing, and re-marketing efforts are constantly grabbing new + current customers to make a purchase. Our website also has email pop-ups once you enter, exit, and has post-purchase sharing incentives.
What are your top recommendations for new store owners?
For all new store owners I send them directly to Shopify. You guys have created the best e-commerce platform, hands down, and have the best support staff to go with it. I must give Emma Craig full credit for being so nice and helpful with anything I have asked of her since we've started. I would tell all store owners that they must design a website for mobile use first and desktop second. Big social sharing buttons on product pages, clean template design, and post purchase sharing are a must.
Any Closing Remarks?
To sum up, I think we have a great, simple story and a very high quality product. A post-college trip turned into a full-fledged business for my partner and I when we least expected it.
Pura Vida Bracelets