In 2000, when many brands were still heavily focused on traditional wholesale channels, one manufacturer saw a different kind of opportunity.
Although e-commerce was still in its infancy, casando already had its own webstore and was selling products online. It was a great time to be ahead of the game, and the brand’s direct-to-consumer selling strategy worked well for more than 15 years.
But eventually, as the industry began to change at a faster and faster pace, there came a time when the e-commerce site by itself was no longer enough. So the company continued to pursue new strategies — and once again came out on top.
This is the story of how a forward-thinking brand is making the most of every e-commerce opportunity.
It started with an online store
Established in 1959 by Holz-Richter GmbH from Lindlar, casando provides a variety of home improvement products to over 100,000 customers: solid wood flooring, doors, decks, grills, garden furniture, privacy fences and more. What began as a small wood shop more than 60 years ago is now one of the largest and most renowned woodworking centers in Europe.
While wholesale trade still plays a prominent role in Holz-Richter’s operations, the casando brand has given the company another avenue for connecting with consumers directly. With close to 42,000 square meters of space in its logistics center and a full fleet of trucks, the company has been able to deliver orders quickly and affordably — making its products highly attractive to consumers.
When casando first launched its online store, the team was able to rely on digital marketing to drive traffic. However, there was a lot of manual effort involved. And as consumers increasingly turned to e-commerce marketplaces, some of that traffic began to be deflected.
By 2017, casando realized it was time to start reaching new audiences and began to build a plan for scaling its online business.
Next came expansion to marketplaces
When starting out with e-commerce marketplaces, the casando team started by using internal IT resources to manage orders. However, it quickly became evident that managing sales across multiple channels could easily lead to overselling scenarios. So they set out to find a better option — and discovered ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces.
“The solution appeared to be the suitable building block we needed for the strategic development of the online business,” Senior Manager Marketplaces Lucas Finsel explained during an interview with ChannelAdvisor. “What stood out for us was the structured data storage and the central manipulation of product data and product data feeds.”
casando turned to ChannelAdvisor’s robust e-commerce platform to centralize marketplace management and automate critical tasks, with a focus on features such as:
“Without ChannelAdvisor, our work would be much more complex,” Finsel said of the move away from manual processes. “I would need four employees solely focused on converting orders into warehouse and shipping orders.”
Because customer orders flow quickly and automatically into Holz-Richter’s systems, casando is able to deliver at the speed its consumers have come to expect.
Looking ahead, casando’s future is even brighter
Armed with a central platform designed to simplify multichannel selling, casando plans to continue expanding to new markets. The brand is currently active on Amazon and eBay, and intends to extend to more marketplaces such as ManoMano and Rakuten.
“We chose ChannelAdvisor because of the ease it gave us to add additional marketplaces and scale,” Finsel said. “It hasn’t let us down. One thing is for certain, the future is bright with ChannelAdvisor.”
casando’s story isn’t just an encouraging one to read. It’s also an example of what virtually any brand or retailer can achieve with the right solutions in place.
In fact, when it comes to reaching wider audiences through marketplace expansion, casando is in good company. We’ve seen brands and retailers experience double-digit growth and reach new GMV records after listing products on multiple marketplaces. As shoppers spend more time online than ever before, expanding to just one additional channel can help increase revenue significantly.
If you’re looking for additional inspiration to help guide your own company’s e-commerce growth, be sure to subscribe to the ChannelAdvisor newsletter. Each month, our industry specialists share the latest e-commerce trends, tips, news and best practices to help you drive more revenue across all your online channels.
