Digital Merchant

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a multi-national industrial group that has an expertise on developing and manufacturing high tech composites for both medical and non-medical applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Merchant?

Developing Amazon strategy and generating more sales on Amazon.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to offer a very good quality product for the whole world at a reasonable price and capture the biggest portion of the market.

SOLUTION

How did you select Digital Merchant?

We found them online and after couple of initial meetings, we understood they are good for our project.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

First, they prepare all the possible data in detail without ignoring almost anything. Then they analyze it at a level that you start to think they know your market & products better than you do. After this, the process of successfully launching the products becomes simple and clear like filling in the blanks of a text exercise.

What was the team composition?

I have worked with principles and other members of the company closely. We met both physically and online with them and they kept us updated throughout the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We created new products and experienced 10x growth in our online sales.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I have worked with principles and other members of the company closely. We met both physically and online with them and they kept us updated throughout the process. We exchanged emails and we had communicated with the team member closely who was responsible for his/her part of the project. It was easy for us to see where we are and where we head.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They know Amazon business and how the system works today and evolved in time very well. I have always got my answers quickly. They've never searched for the answer. That was impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Yes, I am sure there are. Because it is a very dynamic market and the whole system evolves quickly and fast. They need to work hard just to stay where they are.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a photographic equipment company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Merchant?

We wanted to sell our specialized photographic equipment on Amazon. The Amazon ecosystem is a rabbit hole, and there was no way I could handle it by myself because I don’t know the nuances. I hired Digital Merchant to improve my Amazon store.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I started the Amazon project by myself, but realized I needed to bring them on. They’ve helped optimize our listings, optimizing our descriptions, keywords, and more. They also assisted with our PPC.

What is the team composition?

There were two people from his team helping me.

How did you come to work with Digital Merchant?

We have a very good mutual friend. When I told that friend that I was starting with Amazon, he connected me with Digital Market.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began work in December 2018, and we stopped working with them in March 2020. We were still too small for them, and it wasn’t feasible for them to provide ongoing support for us because we don’t generate enough revenue. But we still talk, from time to time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The revenue turnover increased a lot, above a 4x increase. Their optimization of my PPC was also very good. They came in and optimized our advertising, improving it.

How did Digital Merchant perform from a project management standpoint?

We used emails, Slack, and Skype to communicate. They were very responsive. We also matched well on an interpersonal level.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really know what they do. They have very in-depth knowledge about Amazon. If there was a problem, they always had an idea on how to solve it that always worked. They are very special, and I enjoyed working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were the perfect partner for this project. I am very grateful for their service.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest with them. It’s like going to the doctor — don’t hide anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re one of the biggest quilt and pillow producers in Europe, situated in Estonia. I’m was the former e-commerce manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Merchant?

The main challenge was to launch our product successfully on the Amazon platform, and we were mainly looking to European marketplaces. When I started, we didn’t have any idea of what direction we wanted to go in.

We knew that we had to do something when it came to e-commerce. I proposed we look into Amazon because it was growing so quickly but we didn’t have a clue of what to do exactly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Merchant has been our strategic partner since the beginning. They did our market analysis and helped us select the right products because as a manufacturer, we can do whatever in the bedding area. We chose the products then divided the work. They were tasked to do market research as well as create listings when it comes to headlines, bullet points, pictures, and translations.

Our part was to deliver and make these products available so they could start developing the account. We launched the products they chose comprising all the raw materials and lead times; everything took us five months. They set up everything including the automated email sequence, reviews, PPC campaigns, and more.

Since then, we’ve expanded the contract. They’re going to be our strategic partner for Amazon for the next five years. We recently agreed to some terms, and they will be our main partner for that.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people, a co-founder and a PPC specialist.

How did you come to work with Digital Merchant?

Someone from our company knew of them.

How much have you invested in them?

We invested between $50,000–$200,000. We agreed that we’d pay them 2% of the turnover. It was a monthly payment, and we already put that into the price.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in March 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

By the end of 2016, we made €800,000 (approximately $970,000 USD) and in 2019 we did €1.6 million (approximately $1.9 million USD). By the end of 2020, we’re expected to double that; it’s around €3.5 million (approximately $4.2 million USD), which is amazing. The beauty of it all is that these results are only with two products.

Digital Merchant is exactly what we needed. It would’ve taken us more time if we did everything ourselves, and we wouldn’t have been as successful. Everyone was happy, and they were also motivated to help grow our business for us. We’re very happy with the work they’ve done.

How did Digital Merchant perform from a project management standpoint?

In the development stage, we spoke about once a week. Once the business was up and running and went live, we had monthly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were looking to see if there were any issues or problems. That’s one of the things I really like about them. It didn’t matter what the problem is, even if it was outside of their area, they still helped us. The contract we agreed upon at the beginning motivated them to work very closely with us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Somewhere in the middle of the second year, everything was running very smoothly, but I felt we should’ve launched more products, developed more, or expanded the business to other countries; however, this wasn’t so much their fault.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before going live on Amazon and putting anything into Amazon warehouses, do your homework. Create all your listings and make it clear for both sides that these points need to be followed and done before sending anything out. I learned that from Digital Merchant and it’s very true.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a small company that provides transdermal magnesium supplements. We sell through Amazon Germany and the UK, mainly on the European market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Merchant?

We were selling strictly through our website, and we wanted to branch out and see what Amazon had to offer. We were looking for the best vendor in that area, and, since Estonia is quite small, Digital Merchant’s reputation was one step ahead of them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Merchant helped us with everything related to our Amazon business environment, starting with setting up our account. They set up listings, translations, and keywords, and they walked us through how to get reviews and get customer support.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with up to three people from Digital Merchant.

How did you come to work with Digital Merchant?

We found them through a mutual recommendation, and they seemed to be a good match.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost so far is $20,000–$30,000, including initial launch fees, their retainer, and a percentage of the profits.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Digital Merchant around May 2017, and we continue to get some freelancing services from them, such as setting up keywords for a new product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We had this idea that we could just list our products and have them fly off the shelves. We looked at the stats a few years after starting on Amazon, and we found that most sellers don’t succeed at all. It only took us six months to become the market leader in Germany for our product category.

We made some mistakes on our side after that, which got our account shut down for a year. We got a lawyer, and it took a while to get the account back open. Digital Merchant got us back to number one in 5–6 months, after which a competitor took us down for a while. Our sales dropped, but we started again from scratch three times, and we got to be number one in our category again, which we currently still are.

Most of our success has come from Digital Merchant’s attention to detail and doing everything not to 90% but to 110%. They’re really thorough with everything they do.

How did Digital Merchant perform from a project management standpoint?

They have SOPs for everything, and they’re well-organized. One thing I didn’t like in the beginning was that it was a bit slow, and I’m accustomed to making decisions faster. When I have an idea, I execute immediately, and it was bothering me that they were taking 1–3 weeks for some decisions. Looking back, I see a lot of places where we saved a lot of money by not jumping ahead. We made some mistakes by not waiting when Digital Merchant told us to.

They track everything through spreadsheets so the client can see that everything they do is profitable in the end. Looking back, I can see that their way of thinking is more correct than mine, and it saves money in the long run. Doing things faster isn’t always the best way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The thing I’m most impressed with is their attention to detail. They do things thoroughly. We’ve tried working with lower-cost freelancers from Fiverr and Upwork, and we’ve always gone back to Digital Merchant. Even though the others had good reviews, they couldn’t match Digital Merchant’s quality.

I first thought that the results we were getting were normal. I’ve been on Amazon for close to five years now, and I can see that, in order to get results like these, we’d have to do launches and giveaways and waste a lot of money to get rankings. Digital Merchant accomplished all that thorough keyword research, and they’ve put in five times more hours than others to ensure that everything is done correctly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re number one in Estonia. I don’t know about agencies in other parts of the world, but I doubt that there’s one that can match Digital Merchant’s quality of work. I don’t have any comments on what they could improve.