One of the advantages of e-commerce is that if you find a winning recipe, you can replicate it in different industries. This is the strategy James Patten used with his beauty and kitchenware e-commerce businesses: RY (Recreate Yourself) and Kitchenware Superstore.
1. You started RY in 2007. How did you come up with the concept?
I’m from the UK, so I saw what retailers in the personal care industry were doing over there in terms of e-commerce. I had my own hair salon, so it made sense to start selling professional hair-care products online. People initially told me that no-one would buy shampoo over the internet, but one of the main challenges actually lay with the hair-care brands themselves, because many of them weren’t used to selling products online.
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2. You launched the Kitchenware Superstore in 2011. What was the thinking behind branching into the kitchenware space?
As RY experienced growth, it got my business partner Brad [Carr]
and I wondering if we had just been lucky or if we’d been good businessmen. We wanted to test ourselves. At the time, MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules were very popular, so it was impossible to
ignore the kitchenware niche. We also felt that the target market for premium hair care was the same as for quality kitchenware.
3. You had salon experience before you launched RY; was it more challenging to launch Kitchenware Superstore without as much background?
A couple of months of market research cemented our gut feeling about launching Kitchenware Superstore. From running RY, we knew what we were doing in e-commerce and we knew which advertising media worked. We also weren’t as strapped for cash with the second business, so we could employ the expertise we needed.
4. What lessons from RY did you bring to Kitchenware Superstore?
We took all the good things we learned with RY and implemented them with Kitchenware Superstore. For example, we learned through a process of trial and error with RY, where we came up with some excellent but complicated ideas that didn’t come off. So, for Kitchenware Superstore, we knew that we wanted to keep everything simple: don’t have too many options and don’t confuse your customers.
5. Tell us a bit about your target customers.
Everyone needs personal-care and beauty products all the time. Cosmetics purchases are the last to go when times are tough. We selected products positioned between the mass market (supermarket / chemist brands) and the high-end market (where customers typically buy products from their hairdresser or beauty therapist).
Overall, our customers are aged 18—45, although we’ve seen an increase in the 45+ demographic.
With Kitchenware Superstore, you don’t see a customer as often but the order value is higher. People who are into kitchenware have more gadgets than cupboards to fit them. While good quality pots and pans should last a lifetime, people do upgrade, buy new things, or they get married or start a family and need new items.
6. How have you marketed your online businesses?
We’ve used online marketing, sampling, paid internet advertising, SEO, in-person marketing and emails.
With emails, we send a maximum of one email a month. People are willing to open email if it’s relevant, so if we have a cracking deal we might send it to everyone, but we try not to spam anyone. We want people to be forwarding our emails to their friends.
For both businesses, excellent customer service is a must; customers are often opening orders in front of colleagues.
7. What three things do you feel are key selling points for online customers?
There’s been a big shift in e-commerce. It used to be all about price, but now it’s about trust, convenience and speed of delivery.
We’ve watched the American market closely and you can only go so far with discounts. You have to add value with tracked, traced, effective delivery.
People aren’t shopping around as much; it’s about service now. While we’re running two online businesses, 10—15 per cent of orders are made over the phone. Some people like to ring and speak to someone; it convinces them that it’s a real business with real people.
8. Are you looking at replicating the RY / Kitchenware Superstore model in other sectors?
I wouldn’t be surprised if we launch something new in the next six to 12 months.
9. What have been your greatest challenges?
Being a small or medium business is inherently difficult and, with the IT component of e-commerce, it can be difficult to get skilled workers. Right now, we’re making the transition from a medium to a large business, which means getting the systems right to operate as a big player.
10. What highlights have you experienced?
Opening Kitchenware Superstore was a key highlight. Then, RY shipped its one-millionth bottle of shampoo earlier this year. Every day you have to pinch yourself!
11. Do you have any advice for other Australian entrepreneurs?
Trust your own judgement and skill yourself up. If you can’t manage, then delegate – but make sure you know a little bit about the task so you aren’t blindly trusting someone else’s advice. Other companies and contractors are there to grow their business, not yours. Ultimately, your business flourishes or fails based on the decisions you make.
Useful tools and resources
RY sells a wide range of professional-brand personal care products and styling tools online.
Kitchenware Superstore offers the latest kitchen gadgets, plus stylish cookware, tableware and appliances.
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