Website Closers® presents a successful eCommerce Brand operating within the niche field of outdoor and survival gear that now has over 100,000 Followers on its Instagram Page! The company has developed a series of private label Survival Tools to help campers, Boy & Girl Scouts, Survivalist and many more experience the wilderness. These tools include Fire Starters, Fire Ropes, Augers and more. The company’s products are manufactured specifically for them, and all products are sold under their brand name. Sales are mainly on the Amazon platform, where Sponsored Ads have helped the brand connect with their target audience at favorable Customer Acquisition Costs and attract strong positive reviews.
As more people become attracted to the idea of being outdoors and appreciating nature, the camping equipment market has started to grow quickly and was valued at $13.9 million in 2020, with projections that it will grow by 6.68% through 2026. The pandemic and lockdowns in early 2020 had a positive impact on the already booming leisure travel industry, prompting more people to take vacations in campgrounds and national parks. That’s provided a significant support to sales of all types of camping and outdoors equipment, including camping backpacks, tents, outdoor cooking systems, and accessories. The increased participation in outdoor recreational activities also reflects changes in lifestyle as people seek out locations where they can be physically active.
Launched in March 2019, the brand has targeted consumers who enjoy survival activities and are looking for specialized equipment and practical tools for coping in wooded areas. Their SKUs are marketed to people who expect to be out in a natural setting for long periods of time, those who want to pack their “go bag” with practical items, and those off for a short camping trip. While the brand has a Shopify website, the vast majority of its sales are on its Amazon platform. This was a strategic decision, done to build up customer reviews and at the same time have the right platform for an efficient expansion of SKUs in the future.
Their products, which include various fire starters, jumbo fire ropes, and hand augers for drilling holes, were chosen after careful research. Calling it their “discovery method,” the company reviewed what people active in the camping and the survivalist movement were posting on social media, and what specialty stores were selling. That gave the brand a good sense of what products were likely to become the most profitable. Their products are sourced from 2 suppliers in Asia. Two of their auger products are specifically manufactured for them by their supplier after they provided custom specifications. In addition, five of their products are delivered to the customer with a bonus product, and the suppliers have agreed not to sell these “bundles” to any other businesses.
All their products, which have an Average Order Value of $25 and are sold under their brand name. Sales have been increasing, but no single SKU has dominated sales. Their top selling product, a fire starter kit and tinder rope, is now bringing in 27% of gross revenue. Other SKUs are drawing in between 5% and 25% of revenue. Customers have provided the brand with excellent reviews … no reviews are lower than a 4.7 on Amazon. Overall, their reviews on Amazon have been extremely positive.
Their customer base is diverse and includes Boy Scouts and campers to outdoorsmen and survival enthusiasts. These customers are people who devote a lot of time to camping and being outdoors and want to be certain specific items such as knives, fire starters and scotch eye augers are in their pack. Their customers are also families who enjoy camping and find it fun to light their camp with a fire starter. Their sales increase during the holiday season as their products have been recognized as great Christmas gifts, but they have not experienced any seasonal dips so far.
The company relies on Fulfillment by Amazon for fast and convenient shipping, while using a 3PL to store inventory that gets ships to the Amazon warehouses. All products come in a branded box. The company operates with 25% Net Margins and have successfully employed a VIP email list. To join, each product that gets shipped has an insert card asking the buyer if they want to join the VIP Club, and so far 1,500 have done just that. A really excited aspect of this business is that it has an active and thriving social media presence that could be leveraged further for additional revenue. The brand’s Instagram website has a phenomenal 100,000+ followers, and their Facebook page has close to 1,000 followers. Both sites have become the perfect vehicle for photos of their products being used in a gorgeous outdoor setting.
With a limited number of SKUs and the ability to quickly expand, this brand is ideally positioned to scale. The company is now reviewing many product expansion opportunities, having already researched which kinds of products are currently ending up on social media posts from campers and survivalists. While the company has trademarks in the U.S. and UK, they did not get Amazon Brand Registry until September 2021 and have yet to fully tap into the expansion functions that come with it.
Amazon could provide the company with another massive scale opportunity through International Expansion. While the company now sells almost exclusively in the U.S., there are tremendous opportunities by listing their SKUs on Amazon’s platforms in Canada and the European Union, where products similar to theirs are already in high demand.
Listing their SKUs on secondary eCommerce sites such as Walmart would also provide a major boost to sales. Walmart has recently reached out to the brand requesting they join the Walmart platform.
There are marketing opportunities as well to grow quickly. The company could launch an influencer marketing campaign on their Instagram account and take advantage of the high following they have on that platform. They could also use PPC ads on Facebook and Google to drive more traffic to their Shopify site and to convince more people to sign up for their VIP Club.
This is a highly automated business, that requires just 12 hours per week to operate, with tasks that include inventory management, product selection, optimizing product listings on Amazon, handling PPC ads and webpage management. The company does not have any employees.
What they do have is SKUs that clearly appeal to their customers, and a marketing plan that’s enabled them to find those buyers. A buyer for this successful eCommerce business has the good fortune of getting a lot of opportunities to increase profitability, and fast.
