Butterfly Twins builds on success from bikinis to big-name brands
Cristiane Bastos opened her Butterfly Twins eBay Store in 2004, selling Rosa Chá bikinis. This Brazilian swimwear became very popular after being featured in Sports Illustrated, and Cristiane saw an opportunity for a sales niche. |
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| Soon she started adding other popular beachwear items, from one-piece bathing suits to Havaianas flip-flops. Sales grew steadily for two years. But in October 2006, Cristiane decided to position the business for breakthrough growth by introducing a wide range of new products, shifting her Store's focus to high-end brands. There were the obvious extensions of her product line, such as Oakley, Revo, and Nike Sunglasses and athletic watches, and then there were less-obvious, breakthrough product extensions-everything from Stokke baby strollers and car seats to high-end luggage and Wusthof knives.
"Since we added more brands in October, our sales have been six times higher than before. We quickly went from Bronze to Platinum PowerSeller status. We're now running a volume business, focusing on high-end brands at aggressive Buy-It-Now prices. The additional traffic from new items has helped every aspect of our business-we even sell more bikinis now!"
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"If someone buys in one category, you can use Cross-Promotions to show them the other kinds of items you offer."
Cristiane Bastos |
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Premium Store benefits support bigger sales
To support the product expansion, Cristiane upgraded to a Premium Store. She uses the additional categories and subcategories to thoroughly organize her inventory so buyers can quickly find what they are looking for from her diverse stock. She's using the additional Custom Pages to provide customers with more information and to help increase her store's ranking in natural search results. Plus, the additional exposure on eBay helps bring in more new customers.
Another reason Cristiane signed up at the Premium Store is because it includes Selling Manager Pro as a subscription benefit, which saves her the $15.99-per-month subscription fee. "eBay Selling Manager Pro provides great automation rules for listings that leave me hands-free to focus on sourcing and taking care of our customers."
Research pays off for Butterfly Twins
Cristiane's breakthrough success with new products didn't come from pure luck. She uses Marketplace Research to optimize every aspect of her product mix and listing strategy. She researches what items are selling best, and what listing formats, days and times work best for those items. Cristiane uses her Store Traffic Reports to inform her listing strategy, as well. She frequently More >> |
