Company Background
Taps and Sinks Online have a warehouse facility in Waterford City, bringing in quality products to sell online into the UK. They are operating in a competitive marketplace where the suppliers of their new products exercise control over UK distribution networks. In this marketplace, it is difficult to sell new products online as customers wish to visit a retailer; it is also difficult to sell to plumbers or the trade sector as this is a highly competitive market of generic new products at cheaper prices.
The Challenge
The company found themselves investing a significant monthly budget towards SEO for the new taps and sinks market without seeing a return on investment – the sale of sinks and taps is a competitive market in terms of paid advertising. Added to this were various barriers to growth including cost of shipping; product damage and distribution agreements in situ in the UK. These factors were creating a barrier to growth with the existing business model but a realisation that there could be some potential in the spare parts market let the company to explore this as a new potential for revenue. They approached the team at RIKON to explore the options of establishing spare parts as an eCommerce offering.
The Solution
RIKON’s approach was to pivot the company away from a large SEO spend on new products and towards a holistic spare parts offering that would accommodate the DIY market in the UK. A fresh perspective on the business allowed RIKON’s consultancy team to identify the potential in becoming a source of education for the typical handy-man who is keen to repair their own tap rather than invest in a new product. Extensive spare parts competitor research identified the Mick’s Garage model as a good fit for the new website and led to a focus on accessibility for the average home user. There was a large body of work to be carried out in relation to the display of these spare parts on the website. Initial listings of one part to a range of taps led to a sharp decline in SEO. Reverting to separate listings per part allowed for multiple listings, leading to a gradual growth in organic traffic.
Benefits for Taps and Sinks Online Ltd.
The opportunity to brainstorm with the team at RIKON led to a complete pivot of the business model, with spare parts now accounting for 99% of the business. Insights identified during the process led to the identification of new channels to connect with customers and much of the company’s marketing output now consists of DIY blogs tailored towards the home DIY market. The creation of internal links with this content has allowed for continued upward SEO organic momentum. Overall, the change in business model has allowed Una and the team at Taps and Sinks Online to move into a new market sector and, by doing so, explore alternative routes to market with a new energy and perspective.
Una Fleming from Taps and Sinks Online Ltd …
“We experienced a Eureka moment while working with RIKON when we realised that if we were going to switch our target market to the domestic customer then we would need to assist those customers in how to utilise our product as they would not be as knowledgeable as the trade sector. We set about incorporating DIY Guides and explanations of parts into our online model as well as making improvements to our customer service response levels. This has resulted in enough organic growth on Google that we could stop paid SEO in April 2016. So, I am absolutely thrilled with the results and never expected it would grow to this size!”