On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Mikey Moran, Founder and CEO of Private Label Extensions, a hair extension, and technology company helping entrepreneurs launch and manage their brands.

We all know how eCommerce has grown in leaps and bounds over the past year. With this growth we hear of more and more brick-and-mortar stores shutting shop. But that is not the case in all industries.

Competing with DTC brands based in China is tough for any brand (new or old). But there is a very counterintuitive way to get a leg up on the competition, and it’s not something you’d expect. Creating an offline presence (yes, offline!) can actually accelerate growth and help you bag more customers.

In this episode, Kunle and Mikey talk about how to effectively leverage offline presence to grow your business. You will get to hear about how showrooms can be a differentiator, importance of seeding, target AOVs, packaging hacks and much more. This is a great episode for entrepreneurs and marketers in the beauty industry.

Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• • Customers who buy in showrooms tend to continue to buy in the showroom
  • Seeding experts and influencers in your target market is critical for niche product lines
  • Keep outer packaging basic to avoid thefts
  • Upselling the right accessories can boost AOV by over 50%

Covered Topics:

On today’s interview Kunle and Mikey discuss,

• Managing Multiple Ventures
• The case for having showrooms
• Balancing Online and Offline presence
• Buying Behaviour at Showrooms
• Seeding Target Experts/Influencers
• Target AOV
• Packaging Hacks

Timestamp:

• 09:25 – Managing multiple ventures:
  • Start working right after waking
  • All ventures are in the beauty niche
  • “Start with the biggest task everyday”
• 11:05 – Services offered by Mikey’s companies:
  • Wholesaling, white-labeling, packaging and fulfillment
  • They have their own shopify app called Dropship Beauty
  • Influencer Marketing platform
• 12:30 – Profile of Customers:
  • Hair stylists
  • Influencers
  • Celebrity clients
  • Entrepreneurs
• 13:40 – Showrooms:
  • 5-6 showrooms in and around the Atlanta area
  • “Atlanta is the mecca of hair”
• 15:20 – Balancing Online and Offline presence:
  • Customer experience is everything
  • Customers like to have the option to look and feel the hair extensions in person
  • The competition is mainly DTC brands out of China who can’t maintain showrooms
• 20:40 – Buying Behaviour:
  • People who buy in showrooms tend to continue to buy in the showroom
  • Monthly wholesale events are real crowd pullers
  • Online presence drives lead generation
  • “Our showrooms would not be as successful if we didn’t focus online as well”
• 24:15 – Marketing Mix
  • Target top stylists in their focus areas
  • Sending personalised hampers to stylists to try out the products and services
  • Include something that they bring to the store to redeem
  • Facebook and Instagram are big channels for their business
• 26:55 – Identifying top stylists to target
• 34:20 – Journey with Shopify:
  • Moved his store off Shopify in 2016, but came back after hitting the limit with Woocommerce
  • Shopify is constantly building and partnering with the big boys
• 40:00 – Mikey’s book:
  • Used Covid lockdown to get the book done
  • 10-11 month process
  • It’s focused on the beauty niche, but it’s applicable to business in general
• 53:00 – Business numbers:
  • AOV is approx $250
  • Accessories have boosted AOV across the store
  • Revenue has grown almost 40% since last year
• 47:40 – Packaging:
  • Keep it plain on the outside
  • Fancy stuff should be on the inside
  • Include QR codes pointing to resources that better the experience
• 50:00 – Lightning Round

Takeaways:

• Include QR codes in packages to make it easier to access online resources
• Target AOV of hair extension products should be $250
• When competing with DTC brands based abroad, having a showroom is a differentiator

Links & Resources

• Mikey’s Hair Biz Radio Podcast
• Beauty Clout
• Mikey’s book: Fearless Beauty
• Ecommerce Evolved: The Essential Playbook To Build, Grow & Scale A Successful Ecommerce Business

Tweetable Quotes:

“Start with the biggest task everyday.”

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SPONSORS:

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