Our $120K/Month B2B Portal Got Featured On Shark Tank India [Update]
This is a follow up story for The Design Cart. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 4 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hey, I am Apaar, the founder & CEO of The Design Cart. I had previously interviewed with Starer Story in May 2020. You can read it here.
The Design Cart was initially started as a B2B portal for the fashion & jewelry industry to source its raw materials such as fabrics, textiles, trims, beads & accessories via a single online portal.
We have more than 1,50,000 SKUs listed on our portal across 200+ product categories. Our primary clients are fashion & jewelry designers and creative entrepreneurs. We are today India’s largest online portal for sourcing raw materials. We were also featured in Shark Tank India last year.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
The business has grown almost 1.5 times since our first article. We have served more than 1,50,000 unique clients in the interim. At The Design Cart, we have embarked on an incredible journey of growth, surpassing milestones and achieving remarkable success.
First and foremost, we are proud to announce that our website conversion rates have skyrocketed to an impressive 2%, a testament to the effectiveness of our engaging user experience and intuitive design.
Also, our website average order values (AOVs) have witnessed a phenomenal 20% increase, reflecting the trust and loyalty our customers have placed in our brand. Moreover, our relentless dedication to delivering exceptional products and services has led to a remarkable 30% expansion in our overall client base.
Search engine optimization (SEO) plays a pivotal role. By optimizing website content, keywords, and meta tags, I witnessed a significant boost in organic traffic. We followed a top-down approach to nail our SEO strategy. By building an in-house team of SEO Strategists and 2 content writers, we were able to target both short-tail but high-competition and longtail but low-competition keywords simultaneously.
We typically invest ~ Rs. 50k per month in SEO activities and the ROI is around 5.5, which is much higher than the ROI we receive from paid ads.
For around 35% of category-specific keywords, we were able to achieve top ranks in SERPS on Google search. Having an in-house team definitely gave us a lot of control & flexibility on the strategy and execution vs. employing an external agency, which would have meant sub-optimal results.
Engaging in content marketing, such as creating informative blog posts and sharing them across social media platforms, proved to be effective in driving traffic. Collaborating with influencers and industry experts amplified our reach and brought in a new wave of visitors.
We have a 5 member in-house content & graphics team, which is continuously churning content after content. The team has its workflow well set, where we have a content review once every week, where we review the numbers for the past 15 days and discuss execution & content ideas for the next 7 days.
This is a continuous process of improvement which means a lot of hit and trial happens in this process. We also ideally line up at least 3 influencers a week to give us high-quality content, visibility, and a lot of engagement as well.
Generally, we are able to convert 15% of the influencers that we reach out to and get extremely good ROI in terms of actual sales on our website (monies :p ) from around 40% of the influencers we work with. A typical ROI for influencer marketing activities is around 4x.
We work a lot on driving tangible and measurable results via Shopify analytics and Google analytics (now GA4). This double pronged approach helps us triangulate data points from various sources and then eventually attribute sales to various funnels such as paid vs. organic, Google vs. Facebook, Email vs. WhatsApp and so on.
We have an internal data tracker that helps us track daily performance metrics and figure out which data sources work well for our industry and niche.
In this process, our team strength has gone up from 10 members to about 25 members. At The Design Cart, we harnessed the power of WhatsApp marketing to amplify our sales. I started using WhatsApp marketing about 1.5 years ago. I tried 3-4 tools initially, till I zeroed in, on Interakt, which is a homegrown tool supporting Shopify businesses like ours to get our WhatsApp marketing ongoing.
For example, we know a particular client purchased cotton fabrics from us around 6 months ago, then as per our internal data records, 6 months, is a good period where the same client will be inclined to make another purchase of cotton fabrics. We drill down our customer profile in the above-described manner to the most detailed level we can and then combine it with the power of WhatsApp marketing.
Brands must not only differentiate themselves through unique designs but also invest in effective marketing strategies to reach their target audience.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
The Design Cart, like any other business, faces its share of challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is intense market competition, requiring us to continually innovate and differentiate our offerings to stay ahead.
Another challenge is adapting to changing consumer preferences and trends, necessitating constant research and product development. We figure this out by researching about fashion trends and changes in various globally renowned fashion trend prediction publishers & industry magazines.
Additionally, logistics and supply chain management pose ongoing challenges in ensuring timely deliveries and managing inventory. As per our experience, reducing RTOs is the biggest operational challenge that can make or break an E-Commerce company. Our typical RTO rates are <15% which is far below the industry average of 25%.
We were able to achieve this by ensuring super fast dispatch times, keeping the customer informed on the location of their parcel, and keeping in touch with the client constantly throughout the customer journey.
As the founder of The Design Cart, I faced the harsh reality of burnout. The immense workload, long hours, and constant pressure took a toll on my well-being. Recognizing the signs, I prioritized self-care, delegated tasks, and sought support, ultimately emerging stronger and more resilient.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
To successfully launch a mobile app that acts as a super app for all creative entrepreneurs, a well-thought-out strategic plan is essential. Firstly, thorough market research will be conducted via primary sources, i.e. we’ll get to know our current clientele a lot better.
I think the best way to do this will be to eventually talk to our clients rigorously. We have already started the activity where we are asking a pre-defined list of questions to our clients. These questions have been kept extremely specific and pinpointed so that the answers we collect from this questionnaire are not vague.
This insight will help shape the app's features and functionalities. Lastly, gathering feedback from early users and continuously iterating based on their needs will be crucial to the app's success. With this strategic plan in place, the launch of the super app for creative entrepreneurs is poised for success.
The plans for the super app are still under wraps and evolving and I wouldn't want to let the cat out of the bag before its due time, would I?
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
I have been closely reading the biography of Elon Musk by Ashley Vance. It took me, readers, on an engaging and inspiring journey. From his childhood in South Africa to his ventures with SpaceX, Tesla, and more, it unveils the complexities of Musk's life and his relentless pursuit of ambitious goals, making for an enthralling read and a superb inspiration in my life.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their businesses?
As an entrepreneur, my advice to fellow business owners is to embrace failure as a stepping stone to success. Stay resilient, learn from mistakes, and adapt.
Surround yourself with a strong support network, continuously educate yourself, and never lose sight of your passion and purpose. Stay focused, work hard, and believe in your vision. The fashion industry is a dynamic and highly competitive business that presents numerous challenges to both established brands and emerging designers.
From rapidly changing trends to intense competition and economic fluctuations, several factors make fashion a difficult industry to navigate. One of the primary difficulties in the fashion business is the ever-evolving nature of consumer preferences.
Fashion trends can shift quickly, making it crucial for brands to stay ahead of the curve. Designers must constantly innovate and create fresh, appealing collections to capture the attention of fashion-savvy consumers.
Brands must not only differentiate themselves through unique designs but also invest in effective marketing strategies to reach their target audience.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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