Case Study: How We Grew an E-commerce Store’s Revenue from 1,200 EUR to 12,367 EUR in 14 Months
In this article, we’ll share our personal experience and the marketing strategies we utilized to scale an e-commerce business in Latvia. Let’s dive in!
Initial Situation
Our client, an owner of an online store, approached us when their monthly turnover was around 1,200 EUR. They recognized the potential of advertising to boost their project and wanted to start with Google, but had a vague understanding of how it worked. At the point of contact, neither advertising nor analytics were set up. The client lacked a strategy and a clear action plan.
Project Challenges
The project’s challenge was to promote dietary supplements. Selling such products is not easy independently. Firstly, dietary supplements are subject to government regulations, and secondly, there are many restrictions from advertising systems and platforms. For example, certain words cannot be used in ad texts to avoid bans. Dietary supplements are directly related to health, a sensitive topic. Moreover, it took about two months for a user to move from brand discovery to establishing trust with the product and making a purchase. Another peculiarity was the geography of the campaign – Latvia, where certain restrictions apply to Google promotion methods.
Initial Promotion Goals
Our client’s goal was to increase turnover to 10,000 EUR per month.
Phase 1: Preparation
Preparation took a long time. Initially, the client didn’t appreciate the value of setting up e-commerce in Google Analytics and rejected our arguments, so we simply set goals for page visits. After optimizing the ad account for cart additions, we started seeing an increase in both cart additions and sales.
We prepared the technical aspects and upgraded the site by adding pop-ups for subscribers, changing product cards, and creating a wishlist. During the website structure formation, we worked closely with the client to create a comprehensive and accurate structure of main sections, categories, and subcategories. This allowed us to cover a full range of queries in the niche by dividing sections by symptoms, purposes, and product types.
While refining the target audience, we adjusted the ads to their preferences and also worked on the textual and visual components of content marketing. We maintained active communication with the client and agreed to introduce email marketing and Facebook. The first Facebook launch didn’t bring the desired increase in turnover (planned increase of 1,000 EUR), but after tweaking the ads for two months and comparing the results with email marketing effectiveness, we decided to focus on email campaigns.
Results of Months 0–2
In the first two months, we doubled the store’s turnover to 3,100 EUR, which was a significant achievement. The client was very satisfied and accepted our further plan to implement full-fledged e-commerce, allowing the business to grow further.
Phase 2: Strategic Planning
We developed a plan for promotions and marketing activities a month in advance and outlined a six-month overall brand development strategy. Our subscriber base grew rapidly: subscribers received the biggest discounts and special offers. We tailored our approach for different customer segments, determining the best times for sending emails through testing. Additionally, we prepared pop-ups and attractive banners to motivate users to subscribe.
Next, we expanded to target segments. Initially, we had a base familiar with dietary supplements and trusted these products. We went further and started attracting broader audiences who were not deeply immersed in Ayurveda but understood that our Ayurvedic products could solve their problems: mothers, seniors, and women aged 25–65.
We returned to Facebook with new campaigns using a new tactic, and it worked. We managed to attract a cold audience on Facebook and convert them first into email subscribers and then into potential and actual buyers. In Google, we used the same tactic to build a database for further work.
Results of Months 2–4
In the next two months, we increased turnover to 6,000 EUR, again doubling it. The client’s trust in our team also grew, and we started building a clear system for actively promoting the project.
Phase 3: Identifying the Most Effective Advertising Channels
Over 12 months, we established a system to attract audiences through five advertising channels: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Email. For the latter, we developed a loyalty program, a discount system, and exclusive sales for subscribers. The primary tasks of Google and Facebook were to attract users to the site and convert them into email subscribers. The goal of email marketing was to sell directly or through retargeting. The secondary goal was to grow the database, warm up and retain the audience, and maximize the number of repeat purchases.
Results 4–12 Months
During this period, the conversion rate to sales from email marketing alone reached 11%. The average number of orders per user from the website increased from 1.15 to 1.65, enabling us to maintain an average of 1.68 purchases per subscriber in a base of 17,000 people. The average order value also increased from 35 EUR to 55 EUR, and the turnover reached 10,000 EUR.
Final Results After 14 Months
The main achievement – the client’s trust in our services. The client saw consistent results not only from our detailed monthly reports but also was very satisfied with the outcome – the turnover that we grew to 12,367 EUR. Thanks to understanding and active communication with our client, we were able to get approval for testing and implementing all our ideas.
A separate achievement: even in the dead month of January, when there’s usually a natural decline in sales, the site’s turnover was 12,367 EUR. We achieved excellent metrics across all marketing parameters: the subscriber base is growing, traffic and conversions from all the advertising channels we used are stable, and our advertising campaigns are meeting their objectives. The emails we send are read, the banners are clicked on, and most importantly, all this leads to an increase in sales!
The Future Plan for the Project
As of today, we are setting a goal to reach a turnover of 20,000 EUR. To achieve this, we are working on new UGC (User Generated Content). We are focusing on video marketing and actively integrating it into our overall marketing strategy. We plan to add SMS broadcasting to our email marketing.
For brand promotion in Facebook and Instagram, we are negotiating collaborations with local micro-influencers. Additionally, we plan to meet our most active subscribers and buyers offline at special seminars, large exhibitions, and offsite events. In the near future, we are scaling the business and expanding into the Estonian and Polish markets.
