Sweet scent of success
Scented, all-natural, locally made bath products abound at Mountain Madness Soap Co. in Coeur d’Alene.
Back in March when stores were closed statewide and small business owners felt such uncertainty, the Morsells were no different.
One day they had been gearing up for a busy season of a bustling tourist crowd at their Sherman Street store and a calendar full of craft shows. The next, they wondered if they would be able to pay bills or have to lay off employees, or worse yet — get "real" jobs.
"We were terrified," said Jen Morsell of Mountain Madness Soap. "We did an immediate swap from almost all sales in store, to all sales online."
As it turns out, soap is actually a pretty good product to be selling during a pandemic. Their loyal customer base flocked to the online store to quickly stock up on the products they needed and pick up comfort items that made staying home just a bit cozier.
The popularity of the site resulted in increased browsing traffic and even more potential sales. Suddenly, they had a new challenge to consider. How would they handle the increased demand and be able to serve all their customers with that personal touch they were known for?
That led co-owner and former software developer, Andy, to look to technology for solutions in fulfilling new orders, keeping up with manufacturing and capturing customers from the increased traffic.
He adopted a delivery app that created time saving routes for a home delivery service which was utilized until stores were re-opened and the service was replaced with curbside and in-store pick-up. A shipping app integrated with their online store helped negotiate the lowest priced carriers and determine break even points on shipping charges.
When moving to a larger production facility became necessary, a switch to a more accurate inventory management system enabled them to manage both raw and manufactured goods across multiple locations and sales channels.
But, it was the review of the google analytics that really made a difference. SBDC Ecommerce coach Sam Dascomb and Andy met regularly to evaluate data and how their online customers used the site, offering. Understanding how their online customers used their site offered insights on how to make products easy to find while also promoting seasonal goods. As a result, they have increased the per order value and onsite conversion rates for improved net profit without increasing marketing spend or adding any additional costs of goods sold.
Looking back over the year, the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic were quite different than Mountain Madness had originally anticipated. They’ve been able to meet those challenges by adopting new tools, understanding the data, and knowing how the numbers affect the bottom line.
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Katrina Boyer is the marketing assistant for the Idaho Small Business Development Center at North Idaho College.
