Perth startup KeepSpace has found its e-commerce packaging services in demand as government restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 cause retail stores and hospitality venues to close.
Perth startup KeepSpace has found its e-commerce packaging services in demand as government restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 cause retail stores and hospitality venues to close.
Established in 2016 by Jesse Emia, KeepSpace receives, stores, packs and ships a wide range of products to customers for online retailers.
KeepSpace spokesperson William Koo told Business News he had seen numbers of orders per day double from under 200 at the beginning of March to more than 400 on Monday.
“Last week was the peak of it when there was phone call after phone call with different customers.”
He said it usually takes up to six months to close a sale with a customer, and they close an average of one or two deals a month, but last week the team brought on a number of new customers.
“Last week alone there were five new businesses that came on board and said, ‘We need your help, take our money, take our card, take our goods and send our stuff’,” he said.
The extra rush of business had helped the company reach a milestone of 50,000 orders sent since 2016, Mr Koo said.
While he said KeepSpace’s client-base was usually varied, he had noticed more hospitality businesses were getting in touch.
Mr Koo said he had been recently contacted by a brewery, a pasta company and a kombucha producer.
“On top of that there is a coffee business who got on board because he actually distributes coffee all around Perth to a majority of the cafes who get their coffee ground from him,” Mr Koo said.
“He told me he had taken a hit so needed to save his business [by selling coffee online].”
KeepSpace has grown to employ four full-time and three part-time workers since it started in 2016.
Logistically, Mr Koo said KeepSpace's lean team were willing to help out during the busy period but the company was looking to hire more operational staff in the coming weeks.
“We are definitely alright because our team is quite flexible so we just say, ‘All hands on board guys’, and everyone starts working in the warehouse,” he said.
During business periods like the holiday season, Mr Koo said business usually picked up and didn’t fall away after.
While the pandemic was unprecedented and unpredictable, he was hoping a similar pattern might occur.
“We believe that even if this died down, I think the volume is going to remain because at the end of the day, normally once customers are exposed to a product or try or test a product, most likely the order volume is going to [continue],” he said.
“Once this madness is over, this is going to be stronger than ever.”
