Outdoor Heater Startup: E-commerce Business Development & Marketing
Our client, an ex-management consultant, with a keen interest in the e-commerce space, sought out our expertise to scale a reputable venture within the industrial space focused on the resale of outdoor gas and electric heaters. With a vision to deliver a seamless shopping experience to customers across 48 U.S. states, we spearheaded their launch with supplemental strategies that will deliver quality product offerings, an industry-standard UX experience, seamless customer service, high-converting ad strategy, and excellent SEO.
Key areas we addressed
The U.S. residential and commercial patio heaters market. Strong focus on key competitors, pricing strategy, manufacturing and freight delivery
The advantages of using Shopify to build a robust e-commerce channel with high quality UX/UI experience and SEO integration, with a customizable framework for future implementations.
Organic and paid marketing strategies that can deliver above-market ROAS in the outdoor heater market and suit both businesses and direct consumers.
Customer acquisition strategies supplemental to an e-commerce operations that can streamline new customers into the funnel and revitalize retention & repeat purchase rate
Our Strategy & Execution
01
Market Assessment/ Industry Due Diligence
We kickstarted our approach by conducting a comprehensive market assessment of the patio heaters market in the U.S. A complete SWOT and PESTLE analysis was conducted to establish the brand's competitive edge as a new player in the market; with special interest in long and short term opportunities for scale. This assessment includes competitor analysis, market pricing analysis, supply chain assessment/risks, ad campaign KPIs across the industry, ease with supplier acquisitions, and startup costs.
02
Shopify Store Development
The Shopify platform was recommended for its comprehensive built-in capabilities, scalabIlity and ease with learning & navigation by our client. We leveraged built-in functionalities along with custom HTML and CSS scripts enhance the UX/UI experience for a more seamless shopping experience. Patio heaters are a high-value commodity requiring careful shipping and adequate at-home installation instructions; site information for shipping, manuals, delivery, and customs service were essential additions.
03
SEO Implementation & User Experience
-
From a SEO perspective, our end goal was to develop a high-functioning and scalable site suitable for a high ranking on Google, where the potential for organic search and Google Ads campaigns can be maximized. Our SEO work included:
-
High quality SVG images, extensive product descriptions, well-defined informational pages all including targeted keywords based on industry trends, customer search, and product attributes.
-
Customization of URLs, backlinks, and naming conventions to maximize reach and visibly when their products are searched.
-
Leveraged Google Search Console to verify site properties and index of all urls in scope. A sitemap was used as the starting point.
-
Leveraged Core Web Vitals to assess loading speed and content shifting on mobile and desktop. Key metrics for site speed functionality included LCP and CLS.
-
04
Google Ads Campaign Implementation
Our client indicated that clicks and impression from Google Ad campaigns would be their main source of traffic. We leveraged our knowledge of Google Ads and keyword planner to implement non-search and shopping campaigns. CPC for heaters are usually high, averaging $0.5 per click, so our team leveraged Google Analytics in the first few weeks to analyze demographic & user behavioral data, adjusting ad strategy as needed.
