BigCommerce Delivers Unparalleled UX, Drives Growth for Ship It Appliances
Discover how customizable, cost-effective and reliable BigCommerce is and why we built it that way.
220%
increase in revenue
88%
increase in number of users
8%
increase in average order value
Performance metrics compare November 2019 to November 2020.
A vision for growth
Serving both B2C and B2B customers, Ship It Appliances, a family-owned kitchen appliance supplier, got its start in 2011 selling solely on eBay. Everything from a kitchen sink to an American fridge and freezer, Ship It Appliances has made a name for itself selling name brands like SIA, CDA, Reginox, Franke and Clearwater, to suit all budgets.
“We are now one of the largest independent cooker hood sellers in the UK, and making waves in other categories,” said Nick Eaton, managing director at Ship It Appliances. “Over the years, we’ve seen dramatic growth, causing seven premises moves in as many years. Today, we are located in a 40,000 square-foot warehouse situated in Mansfield, England.”
CHALLENGE
Not getting the performance desired.
In 2013, Ship It Appliances launched its first website on Advansys and later migrated to WooCommerce. But the company soon found it needed an ecommerce platform that would limit the need for developer dependency, particularly when making site changes and updates and resolving speed issues. What Ship It Appliances wanted was a platform that would provide them with reliability, scalability and usability.
SOLUTION
BigCommerce brings it all together.
API connectivity with Linnworks, a robust end-to-end tech stack solution, enterprise-grade architecture and roadmap offered by BigCommerce are reasons Nick cites for bypassing Shopify or Magento 2 as potential ecommerce solutions.
“One of the issues with Magento was that it felt like we would be going out of the frying pan into the fire. The thought of going back into an open source solution was scary. And at that time, on the forums, the sentiment of those being forced to move from Magento 1, due to end of support, to Magento 2, didn’t leave us with a great deal of confidence,” Nick explained. “On the other hand, Shopify seemed great for entry to mid-level businesses, going from nothing to 10 million. But that didn’t work for me because I wanted a system that would grow with me long-term and that happened to be BigCommerce.”
5874 Commerce, a certified Elite BigCommerce agency partner, handled Ship it Appliances’ migration to BigCommerce. “They were great. I couldn't ask for anything more from them. They managed to basically take our really, really, really broken data source from WooCommerce, transition it and integrate it into Linnworks and BigCommerce pretty efficiently,” Nick said.
“Linnworks is our baby; it holds all of our customer data. The fact that Linnworks and BigCommerce have 100% API connectivity means we can build the platform however we want to. We can pull the data however we like from graph APIs, which was obviously a great add-on from BigCommerce,” Nick stated.
Nick had good things to say about the BigCommerce team as well. “They knew everything about the system, what it could offer and that's the bit I quite liked. It wasn't a case of ‘well, here's our system and you go through our store and find what you want,’” he said. “It was very much, ‘This is what we can do for you. This is how we're going to link into your order management system. This is how we're going to help you integrate with eBay and Amazon. This is how we are going to tie in your ticket system.’ And it turned out just like BigCommerce said it would. It was as easy as it could have been.”
In 2021, Ship It Appliances was acquired and became part of a group of companies. This business change became a catalyst for the company’s omnichannel approach to selling online. “There’s been a lot of growth and expansion. As a group of companies, I think we're probably as omnichannel as we can probably get. Besides BigCommerce, we sell on marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, Onbuy, B&Q and social commerce sites like Facebook and Instagram,” Nick stated.
Notable Applications:
Comments by: Nick Eaton, Managing Director at Ship It Appliances
"We use FreshClick to enable our customers to search our website with multifaceted search capabilities. It gives us more control over the search bar at a very low cost.”
“ShipperHQ enabled us to completely transition our shipping process and what we offer customers on the front-end of the website. It's completely postcode generated, takes into account timings, postcodes, what product goes in what group and much more.”
“Signifyd is for fraud prevention that we basically send everything on the website through. It’s a great tool and with zero-fraud liability; it saves us money too.”
Technical Features:
Data Center
Linnworks
Implementation Project Manager
Customer Success Manager
Solutions Architect
Technical Account Manager
Data Migration Services
Launch Package
BigCommerce University Training
“I wanted a system that would grow with me long-term and that happened to be BigCommerce.”
Nick Eaton Managing director, Ship It Appliances
“The fact that Linnworks and BigCommerce have 100% API connectivity means we can build the platform however we want to.”
Nick Eaton Managing director, Ship It Appliances
“From the actual back-end system side of BigCommerce, we saw an increase in productivity. Because of the architecture we were able to automate our book-out process. Our warehouse is now a fully operational warehouse management system with scanners. The warehouse guys can operate it whenever and however they want, and it works. This greatly contributes to the increased productivity we’re realizing.”
NICK EATON MANAGING DIRECTOR, SHIP IT APPLIANCES
RESULTS
BigCommerce impacts business where it counts.
Since launching on BigCommerce, Ship It Appliances has experienced increases in three key areas: users, average order value (AOV) and revenue. When comparing November 2020 performance metrics over November 2019, the company has seen a 220% increase in revenue, a 88% increase in number of users and a 8% increase in average order value.
“From the actual back-end system side of it, we saw an increase in productivity. Because of the architecture we were able to automate our book-out process. Our warehouse is now a fully operational warehouse management system with scanners. The warehouse guys can operate it whenever and however they want, and it works. This greatly contributes to the increased productivity we’re realizing,” Nick said.
Ship It Appliances’ marketing team are benefactors of the BigCommerce-powered website as well. The team is now able to use things like customer groups and price lists to present information to the right customer segment. “What this means is that we are able to push a lot of our B2B customers through the website and we're not having to use human resources to process their orders,” Nick stated. “They can log into their accounts on the website, get the price list that's already set for them and manage things themselves. So we've been able to streamline the B2B side as well.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Getting things right for growth.
Three words describe Ship It Appliances plans for the future: grow, drive and improve. The appliance company intends to expand its omnichannel footprint by launching on DIY.com, ManoMano.com and expanding its reach on more social media channels.
BigCommerce is part of Ship It Appliances growth plans too. “Our website is the area that has the most potential to help us grow. We are looking to do a full redesign of the site, utilizing more UX data in the build process. The reality is we know we've got a lot of scope, a lot of growth if we get it right,” Nick said. “The big thing now is to continue to build out the website right. Then utilize BigCommerce’s built-in tools and get our SEO right. Get that right and I'm confident that our website and business can fly.”
Published: March 2023
“The big thing now is to continue to build out the website right. Then utilize BigCommerce’s built-in tools and get our SEO right. Get that right and I'm confident that our website and business can fly.”
NICK EATONMANAGING DIRECTOR, SHIP IT APPLIANCES
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