Website Closers® presents an eCommerce brand for sale that has seen plant-iful growth in the succulent market. Throughout the past 7 years, they have flourished into a well-recognized website and a top organic Google search results and have been featured in numerous publications. Their sales are generated through a diverse lineup of D2C and B2B channels consisting of Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, Google, Faire, and eBay. Shopify and Amazon have been their most successful sites thus far, coming in at 68% and 25% of sales respectively.
Their products are sourced domestically from reputable suppliers that the brand has built strong relationships with, which ensure that they are of the highest quality available. These 1,230 products are held in their own California-based warehouse before being sold under their brand name, with the brand shipping approximately 400 orders every day. They see an Average Order Value (AOV) of $25.
The brand has 2 peak seasons: spring, between the months of March and May, and the holiday season of November to December. Out of the two, spring has proven to be the most active season for the brand, with their products being purchased more often as Mother’s Day gifts than holiday gifts.
Business Broker Takeaways
- Subscription-Based Revenue. Their products are available through both one-time sales and numerous subscription options, with the latter generating 20% of the brand’s revenue. These options range from 1 to 4 plants with frequencies of monthly, quarterly semi-annual, or annual. The brand currently has 2,000 active subscribers delighting in their monthly succulents, which has fueled their over 40% Repeat Customer Rate.
- Strong, Fully Staffed Team. The company has 12 overseas contractors and 13 domestic employees in place. Their domestic staff consists of 9 packers, 3 pickers, and 1 admin, with 6 working full-time and the rest part-time. Their contractors, meanwhile, are all fulltime, and handle marketing, design, SEO, content, and editing. As this team handles much of the day-to-day operations, ownership works at most 10 hours a week on strategy, goal settings, and product sourcing. All the brand’s employees are willing and able to stay on post-purchase.
- Robust Marketing Campaign. They have a multi-faceted marketing campaign that has achieved 15% TACoS, 4x RoAS, and a rate of 288,000 visitors to their website every month. Their strategy utilizes paid ads across Facebook, Amazon, Google, social media, and affiliates to broadcast the brand and boost conversion rates. They also have an email marketing campaign that targets the 186,000 customers subscribed to their email list, and an SEO strategy geared towards dominating the space with plant care guide content that has led to the brand ranking highly on Google search results.
Scale Opportunities
There are a few ways in which a buyer could nurture this brand and help them bloom into something more. For instance, a buyer could consider establishing a supply chain outside of California, if not moving the business out of California entirely. This would reduce their staffing, shipping, and warehouse costs, and as there are many suppliers of the same products throughout the US, a more central location could result in much higher margins. They could also transition to a central 3PL service to reduce shipping expenses, depending on buyer preference.
The brand could bolster their revenue by expanding their wholesale/B2B channel, with nurseries, offices, and retail stores being promising customers. They could promote a business specific subscription model to target these customers in question, as well.
Conclusion
Succulents are thriving among consumers as a plant that’s easy for green thumbs and newfound plant parents alike to look after, driving up their popularity and cultivating their demand. This acquisition is in a great position to take advantage of this green market. They are well-established in the succulent niche, have a reliable supplier network, and, with the proper TLC, can blossom into a top brand among individual gardeners and businesses alike.
The current owners are happy to support the buyer through the transition process, and as the brand isn’t dependent on the sellers or their personal skill set at this time, the buyer should be able to quickly settle into their new responsibilities.
