Website Closers® presents a thriving B2B eCommerce Brand in the Commercial and Residential Hardware Sector, providing high-end, private label hardware products at affordable prices with a commitment to customer service unmatched by their competitors.
While the company does make some DTC sales at the moment, approximately 80% of sales currently generate from B2B relationships. The company has become an authorized dealer for dozens of hardware manufacturers across the country, making their fast distribution and strong customer service invaluable to retailers who sell a wide variety of commercial hardware. These are high-margin products bringing the company 86% Gross Margins and 36% Net Margins.
All products are sold under the company’s trademarked brand, and they benefit as well from highly enthusiastic 5-Star reviews on the site for their 50 highly focused, in demand products. All products are shipped via Fulfillment By Amazon, bringing the company high praise for fast deliveries and superior customer service.
Amazon has enabled the company to tap into a massive audience for its selection of commercial door hardware that includes commercial door locks and door closers, and there are plenty of additional products that the company could add to its catalog within this niche space to drive profits even higher. For the buyer of this business, that’s just one strong scale opportunity moving forward in this evergreen field. The company is now exploring which new SKUs to add in 2024, with possibilities that include commercial hinges, Panic Devices, and black locks.
Working with Amazon has given this company another major advantage: a minimal workload. The current ownership works as little as 3 hours each week operating this business, with so many of the basic tasks being handled by Amazon.
In addition, the company’s gross margins are increasing as freight costs have come down, while increased demand for their SKUs has enabled the company to raise its Average Order Value from $202 in 2022 to $210 in 2023. As the company continues to strive for the best possible customer service, the owners have successfully asked clients to provide a review, and those testimonials are giving the company excellent brand recognition.
The Company
This eCommerce brand was founded 5 years ago. The company private labels all product, with Commercial door closers representing 60% of their sales, and commercial door locks the remaining 40%.
Since these products are popular with other commercial operations, sales remain high throughout the year, dropping only on holidays when these businesses are closed. The number of retail and wholesale customers they service has been rising every year, and the company has been able to service businesses across the country, clients that appreciate the convenience of purchasing online from their sizeable catalog.
The brand is particularly popular with companies that need their SKUs as replacements for existing doors and locks, and that require door applicants for new construction projects. The company has a growing number of buyers who return to make new purchases – their Repeat Customer Rate just shot up to 20%. Because their sales are rising, the company is now confident of its ability to increase prices by 5-10% in 2024 and continue to enjoy rising profits.
Operations
The company sources its products from reliable manufacturers within this industry. Because of rising demand for their SKUs, the company stocks $1 million in inventory to keep up with incoming orders. Their products are stored in their 3,000-square-foot warehouse and then shipped to Amazon’s FBA warehouses once a week.
The company has been striving to create even higher levels of efficiency in its daily operations. That includes limiting the number of processes needed to be performed daily to keep this business simple and cost-effective. That includes hiring third parties to assist at peak times when the workload increases.
It’s working as intended. The current ownership works as little as 3 hours per week handling normal operations, and 5 hours a week for managing returns While Amazon handles 99% of customer service interactions, the company does respond to phone calls and emails from customer inquiries.
Marketing
The company takes advantage of PPC ads on Amazon to put its products in front of new eyes, and its Amazon advertising cost of sales is 40%. The company has also invested in an SEO program, having gone through all its listings on the platform to ensure they have keywords that enable the company to rank well in search engines.
Another option would be to develop product inserts that drive traffic to the website and would enable the company to create a database of customers for upsells and remarketing.
The company could also launch email and social media marketing campaigns to generate more organic traffic to the new site and add a hardware blog that provides tips and educational advice as a way to expand its customer base even further.
This thriving B2B brand is ready to start growing in 2024 as it introduces new products, ideal for keeping its existing customers happy and attracting new ones. With commercial hardware a very evergreen vertical, the buyer of this business can find plenty of additional ways to grow this brand and increase its profitability.
