Website Closers® presents a nearly 20-year-old eCommerce brand that has climbed into the coveted status of one of the largest Independent Office Supply Resellers in the US. They offer a truly remarkable SKU count of over 40,000, which has been made possible by their decades of experience building relationships with top brands across the US and have grown considerably throughout the past few years.
Their Amazon storefront has grown to generate 33% of their total revenue and is expected to rise to 50% in 2024. As the company continues to add new brands to their product catalog, and new manufacturers step forward in the hopes of partnering with them, they can look forward numerous opportunities to enjoy healthy short-term revenue growth while setting the groundwork for continued long-term expansion.
Now 100% B2B eCommerce
The company has made the strategic decision to switch over into being a 100% one-stop eCommerce shop for B2B customers, providing a wide array of office supply, janitorial, and breakroom products. Their massive number of SKUs means that they have a vibrant and diverse catalog that surpasses what many big box office supply retailers have in store, which they combine with competitive pricing and fast delivery times.
Their revenue growth can be partly attributed to the fact that the brand lets their customers choose between making smaller orders or buying in bulk, depending on what happens to be most convenient for them. Bulk pricing is available even on certain smaller orders, and, as a result, the brand now enjoys a remarkable 75% Repeat Customer Rate, as they have many corporate customers who are interested in buying in larger quantities. 65% of their sales are bulk orders.
Their uniquely priced bulk orders are available through the company’s manufacturing agreements, which has led to an Average Order Value (AOV) of $1,000 and a respectable Lifetime Customer Value of $15,000.
The industry that this company operates within is highly evergreen and lucrative, with millions of businesses and individual consumers relying on office and breakroom supplies to do their job efficiently. They have taken advantage of this growth by developing alliances with important suppliers in the market, which allowed them to drastically expand their SKU count to the number it sits at now, ensuring that they can offer whatever office supplies a business might need for their own operations.
They have expanded onto Amazon and, more recently, Walmart, giving them access to a much broader consumer base than what they had before, with their sales reflecting the success of this tactic. This deal offers the valuable opportunity to take charge of one of the largest online office supply businesses, and, as their products see consistent demand, there are a variety of scale options that a savvy buyer can utilize post-purchase.
The Company
Since their inception 2 decades ago, the brand has worked to ensure that they can provide customers with everything they might need in terms of office and breakroom supplies and janitorial equipment, with their excellent products being sourced from vendors they have built sturdy, long-standing relationships with over the years: relationships that fledgling companies would be hard-pressed to achieve anytime soon as many of these vendors prefer to limit their distribution partners to ensure the success of those that they focus on. Newcomers trying to get into these vendors would be hard pressed, and to some extent, might never be able to get into them all.
They have developed into a steady operation, with the addition of their Amazon storefront bringing forth new opportunities to improve sales and add private label products to their roster: something that they have already begun doing, which has proven to be highly beneficial for the brand. The company hired a very strong team to manage the Amazon sales, which are helping to grow the brand nicely, but there is a tremendous amount of meat on those bones.
Though their AOV has averaged around $400 for most of their history; however, their incorporation of the bulk order model caused it to rocket up to $1,000. The brand is now considering adding subscription services as well, particularly after developing and launching their own private label toner, as this new product offers them significant upsell and cross sell opportunities to their sizable customer base. Many other private label products can be borne from the 20 years of historical data the company has with respect to its highest performing products.
The company’s sheer number of SKUs means that they have little concentration risk, with their revenue being generated across thousands of different products and multiple sales channels. These products are sourced from top manufacturers and at least half of all sales go directly to wholesale clients from the manufacturer.
Though they see little seasonality throughout the year, their sales do peak during the spring and summer months thanks to back-to-school buying. Their customer base can be divided into several categories, which include corporate customers, smaller businesses, individual consumers (particularly on Amazon), and schools. The diversity of their audience means that they see an evergreen and universal demand for their products, which include cleaning, office, and coffee/snack supplies.
Operations
The company utilizes a Hybrid Inventory Model, which uses Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for most deliveries through Amazon and DropShipping for orders that come through their website. Inventory is primarily stocked at Amazon’s FBA warehouses for quick replacement of items as orders come in, although the company does utilize a 3PL to trickle inventory to Amazon to reduce the cost of storage fees at Amazon.
Their use of DropShipping on the website allows them to keep inventory for most of their SKUs at zero, which in turn allows them the freedom of not managing warehouses, warehouse employees, or eating up working capital with large swaths of SKUs. This changed a bit once they launched on Amazon, and the company now maintains over $800,000 worth of Amazon Product Inventory that typically turns over within 90 days.
The company has an experienced and highly capable team in place that includes full-time workers overseeing website management, customer service, purchasing, and collections, and strategic partners for Amazon shipping and Amazon marketing. The current ownership works on a past-time basis, with their primary responsibilities consisting of vendor and manufacturer relationships, pricing strategy, accounting, and marketing.
Marketing
The company has used an effective in-house SEO program by incorporating thousands of wholesale office and janitorial keywords, letting them rank high and, in turn, generate a high amount of traffic, giving them an average rate of over 60,000 unique visitors every month.
The brand encourages their visitors to provide their email addresses, and, upon doing so, these visitors are given several incentive offers every week to encourage them to make purchases. They have earned over 80,000 subscribers this way, and, through their email marketing strategy, have increased their Repeat Customer Rate.
They also attract promising new customers through their affiliate program, which encourages other sites to promote their orders in exchange for a commission whenever a sale is made. Other marketing tools that the brand uses include PPC ads on Google, special promotions on their over 1,600 follower strong Facebook, Instagram ads, and bundling products on Amazon to improve their margins.
Summary
This experienced acquisition has developed into a trusted, well-known name within the thriving office supplies industry, and for good reason. Their vast array of top-name products means that they offer everything a customer might need for their office, which are then sold at competitive prices with fast service included. The brand’s decision to offer both small sales and bulk purchases has cultivated a dedicated consumer base that is happy to repeatedly return to them for all their office needs.
This deal offers enviable recurring revenue and scale options, making it highly appealing for a buyer interested in adding a high-performing business to their portfolio. The current ownership is open to lending a hand to the new owner post-acquisition to help them grow the brand to $50 million in revenue within the next two to four years, providing another valuable benefit alongside the acquisition.
