How our clients are powering growth

At this year's IRX event, we’ve been talking and listening to our clients Gymshark and Lounge Underwear about their business journey, and how they’ve powered growth throughout the years.

We’ve taken some of their best advice to share with you so you can grow your ecommerce business.

“Have holes in your company, not ar**holes”

Gymshark’s Steve Hewitt spoke about the importance of hiring good people and hard workers. A company is only as good as its employees, and ensuring your team resonates with one another is an important thing to capture.

However, a finely oiled machine can be thrown off course with one faulty part. If a member of your team treats others badly and makes the workplace an uncomfortable place to be, you’re at risk of losing productivity and even valuable employees. Two-thirds of people admit their performance declines when they’ve been treated poorly or disrespected.

That’s why it’s better to have a few gaps in your company than someone who’s affecting others’ wellbeing. Take a bit longer in your hiring process to find people who share your company’s values and will mesh well with the rest of the team.

Build strategies around the country you’re selling to

Dan and Mel Marsden, founders of Lounge Underwear, talked us through how they created their company from their bedrooms and have grown into a hugely successful brand just six years later.

One piece of advice they gave was to focus on individual markets if you’re expanding into other countries. Different countries have different cultures and needs; a piece of clothing might not sell as well in France as it does in England, so using the same marketing for it won’t be as effective.

Develop a strategy for how to capture specific audiences. Lounge Underwear use influencers as a major part of their marketing, and recognise that someone in the UK might not have as wide of a following in other countries.

Hire people who are better than you

Steve from Gymshark had more advice on who to have on your team. He talked about the importance of being vulnerable and admitting your weaknesses to yourself during the hiring process.

When you’re bringing someone on board, you shouldn’t be afraid of them being better than you at some things. Leave egotism out of the hiring process and take people on because their talents compliment your shortcomings.

He finished with a statement which underpins the company’s values: “work hard and stay humble."

Work with people who are invested in your brand

Dan and Mel use influencer marketing for Lounge Underwear, getting people with huge followings to use and advertise their products. It’s an increasingly effective tactic; 49% of consumers rely on influencer recommendations.

But, they stressed the importance of working with the right people. Some influencers won’t be as interested in your brand as they are in a paycheck, and good marketing involves finding out who will be a good choice to market your product.

If you ensure your influencers are genuinely passionate about working with you, it’ll show through their work. They’ll get a lot more engagement because their content will be informed and it’s a lot more likely that their audience will be your audience.

That’s just a few of the best takeaways from our clients. Of course, a big part of their success also comes from reliable integrations provided by Patchworks. If you’re looking for an integration provider to help handle your ecommerce operation, get in touch with our team.