With an increasing number of small businesses opting for an online shop front to sell their products in the global marketplace, one Duncraig home-based graphic and design business is reaping the benefits of incorporating e-commerce into its website.
With an increasing number of small businesses opting for an online shop front to sell their products in the global marketplace, one Duncraig home-based graphic and design business is reaping the benefits of incorporating e-commerce into its website.
Moments of Colour design studio and paperie, started by former accountant Natasha Cusiel in 2002, sells custom-made invitations for wedding, birthdays and baby showers, using high quality products and commercial printers.
Starting out with a basic website, domestic sales began to grow, mostly through word of mouth. But that soon gave way to a wave of international business originating from the US, UK, New Zealand, Canada and Indonesia.
Realising that most of her business from outside Australia would originate in the US, Ms Cusiel this year decided to add an e-commerce function to the website, creating an online shop that enabled customers to conduct their transactions online.
The move to online sales has been so successful that she was named a finalist in this year’s WA Web awards for best online sales/e-commerce business.
Ms Cusiel used an e-commerce package from Sydney-based company Gate 13, which was able to be incorporated into the existing website with little disruption, and at a reasonable cost.
Wanting to continue her hands-on role, Ms Cusiel taught herself the basics of web design, which allowed her to update the website regularly, and learned the different terminology and cultural differences in dealing with customers from around the world.
Market research was also fairly hands on, with Ms Cusiel asking friends who shopped regularly online what they liked and didn’t like about online shopping. She used that knowledge to tweak her website in order to create an enjoyable online shopping experience.
“When people shop online, they just want to shop. They want to know what they’re buying and about the product,” Ms Cusiel told WA Business News.
Choosing a good e-commerce provider and web host was one of her most important decisions, she said.
And while her web host was an American-based company, due to the fact her key market was in the US, Ms Cusiel went with an Australian-based e-commerce provider so that, if any problems arose, she could ensure same-day communication.
The program appealed to her because of its key features, including the collection of sales statistics, which could later be used for marketing purposes, and the ease with which new products could be uploaded.
The program could also be integrated with MYOB, saving time on processing accounts.
Ms Cusiel said she had been surprised at the outcomes since the new site was launched two months ago.
The biggest benefit of the new automated site was the time savings, she said, with an estimated 10 hours saved each week by having the processing of orders and invoicing done automatically online.
“The nice thing is now I can concentrate on creating designs rather than the nitty gritty things, like invoicing,” she said.
Ms Cusiel said she found the best and most economical method of promotion was linking from well-known bridal websites and directories, as well as offline marketing initiatives such as attending bridal expos.
Ms Cusiel said choosing which sites to advertise her business on required extensive research to ensure they aligned with the style of her product and target market.
“You don’t just go with anybody,” she said.
“Some American sites, like The Knot, have brought in huge amounts of work.”
But she does issue a word of caution – while the web can be your best friend, negative customer feedback via online forums can be damaging.
With customers more than willing to share both their positive and negative experiences with a company and its products online, building a reputation for reliability of supply and quality is paramount.
“We use a very reliable international courier service – never in five years has a package gone missing,” she said.
Ms Cusiel said she had already noticed a significant jump in domestic orders, and has employed a part time employee to help process, check and send packages.
Now offering opportunities for retailers to buy products at wholesale prices, conducting all transactions online at discounted rates, Moments of Colour continues to experience rapid sales growth at a fraction of the cost of a traditional retail outlet.
Already with 20 agents across Australia, the US and Canada, Ms Cusiel said she look forward to continuing to watch her hobby turn into a profitable business.
