It’s been about three months since we launched our internal brand Ordinary Mushrooms, and there have been
A LOT of lessons so far.
Starting a brand isn’t easy, but it’s not rocket science either. Ordinary Mushrooms has taught us a lot about what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to building an eCommerce business from scratch.
Here are three big takeaways from 12 weeks in the trenches.
1. Individuality Will ALWAYS Reign Supreme
Most ads these days are generic, following trends instead of solving problems in a way that fits the brand and its audience.
We’ve gone in the opposite direction.
Raw, real and unique to who we are as people.
We’ve leaned into:
- Founders video: A mix of studio and iPhone shot videos
- Calling out industry BS: We hit things like overpriced blends and dodgy capsules without mincing our words
- Going HEAVY on memes: When the opportunity to meme arises, you best believe we’re taking it.
We’re combining branding with direct response marketing, and getting bites in the process.
2. Fulfilment Matters (…just get it done)
Shipping times matter. A lot. If you’re not getting products into people’s hands as quickly as humanly possible, you’re already losing.
With Ordinary Mushrooms, we decided early on that for us, fulfilment is everything. Free shipping on everything, and orders go out the same day (or the next at the latest), no excuses.
It could be cheaper (and easier) for us, but here’s the thing — weak fulfilment costs way more in pissed-off customers, bad reviews, and lost trust. If your customers aren’t happy with the step between buying and receiving their order?
It’s game over.
3. Manage The Funnel From Start To Finish
Everyone talks about traffic, but traffic without conversions is just a big waste of money. Early on, we realised our website wasn’t doing enough to close sales. So we started testing EVERYTHING.
We had early success with landing pages, but after carefully optimising our product pages, we’ve seen conversion rates skyrocket. We’ve focused on testing things like sticky add-to-cart buttons, formatting and clearer value props. Combine tweaks like this with ads ripping 5-10% click through rates…and you’re off to the races.
Final thoughts?
Ordinary Mushrooms has been built on simple things done well:
- Combine direct response with unique branding
- Get the product to customers ASAP
- Make it easy to buy
If you’re overcomplicating your processes or blindly trying to do what everyone else is doing, take a step back.
Be yourself. Focus on the fundamentals. And most importantly – overdeliver for your customers.
