Introduce your business and tell us your story: How did you decide on what to sell, and how did you source your products?
I was always keen to find and wear unique t-shirts from around the world. However, I was fed up with badly printed designs on cheap t-shirts. I thought there could be many people like me, who wish to wear premium quality t-shirts with extraordinary designs. So I decided to jump into that untapped market. As our aim is to sell premium t-shirts with unique designs, the quality of our blank t-shirts is essential for our success. We have solely focused on quality and luckily found a great manufacturer here in the UK! They manufacture 100% organic cotton t-shirts for us and we print them in-house.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
Start with your family and friends. Tell them your story and encourage them to advertise you. Word of mouth is still the quickest way of getting known. A vast majority of our sales are coming from organic searches. We mostly invest in SEO and it is crucial for our success. Shopify is a great platform for SEO. It is easy to build a solid SEO infrastructure with Shopify thanks to its ability to create search engine optimised pages!
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?
I am very happy to run our store on Shopify. I would not think running an online store could be this easy and fun! Shopify is an "easy to use" ecommerce platform for entrepreneurs who want to focus on other aspects of their business. I also like Shopify Apps. We use Vendor Payout, which allow our artists to follow their sales in real time. After we print t-shirts, we ship them from our facility in London. We sometimes put little surprises into packages like chocolates. If it is a loyal customer, we sometimes even send a free t-shirt with his/her order.
What are your top recommendations for new store owners?
Make your message simple. Build an easy to use website that conveys your message at first sight. A six-year old kid should explain what your brand stands for in one or two words. Plus, always listen to your customers and change your store considering their feedback. Never hesitate to try new things even if you fail.