Ecommerce Consultant and Growth Strategist for small businesses
07592 629885 | Dominic Smith - Ecommerce Consultant
Notcutts is a well-established UK-based garden center retailer, specializing in a wide range of garden products, plants, home and lifestyle items, and outdoor furniture. Founded in 1897, the company has a long history of serving gardening enthusiasts and homeowners. Notcutts operates both physical stores and an ecommerce platform, offering customers the option to shop online for delivery or collect items in-store. Notcutts is known for its extensive selection of plants, gardening tools, outdoor furniture, landscaping materials, and home and lifestyle products such as indoor decor, seasonal decorations, and gifts.
The company caters to both amateur gardeners and seasoned horticulturists, providing expert advice and high-quality products.
In recent years, Notcutts has focused on expanding its online presence and improving its ecommerce capabilities, aiming to make gardening and home shopping more accessible to customers across the UK. With a focus on customer service, quality products, and an enriching garden center experience, Notcutts continues to be a popular destination for garden enthusiasts looking to transform their outdoor spaces.
Achieving a 70% YOY increase in conversion rate is no small feat, and it’s something I am incredibly proud of. Over a 12-month period, I worked with a previous client to deliver this very outcome. As shown in the 12-month analytics below, this growth was the result of a comprehensive overhaul of their e-commerce strategy, focused on both improving the customer experience and optimizing backend operations.
To accelerate online sales growth, a new approach to trading the site and refining the commercial proposition was essential. Their website had several functional limitations that hindered performance, including a lack of key features such as product reviews. Furthermore, the back-end operations were struggling, with challenges in stock tracking, order management, and customer support capabilities.
Another key obstacle was the lack of collaboration with strategic partners to drive traffic and conversions. By quickly identifying this gap, we devised a plan to scale operations effectively.
To unlock the business’s growth potential, we devised a comprehensive e-commerce strategy that included:
Enhancing the user experience (UX) by improving website functionality and incorporating key features like product reviews.
Investing in marketing technology (MarTech) tools to better capture, track, and convert traffic.
Opening up all in-store inventory for online sales—a common challenge for many retailers, especially those selling bulky or household items. We worked out a sustainable solution that enabled them to expand their product range online without impacting profitability.
Reworking the commercial proposition, including delivery charges, customer fees, and positioning to better meet customer expectations.
This strategy led to a dramatic improvement in conversion rates, as seen in the graph below. In just 12 months, we achieved a 70% increase in conversions, creating a strong foundation for further optimizations and future growth. We then focused on refining team structure, bolstering content support, and planning a platform overhaul to ensure a seamless integration between online and offline experiences.
Tailored E-Commerce Solutions to Drive Business Growth:
As part of the planning phase, I implemented a simple yet highly effective waterfall approach to budgeting and project management.
This allowed us to strategically plan each component of the e-commerce development process, ensuring that each element directly contributed to growth. This method proved essential when presenting the plan to the Board, clearly demonstrating the value of each initiative and how it aligned with business objectives.
As we moved into the next phase of their e-commerce setup, the focus shifted to:
Developing a new website with enhanced functionality to further drive conversion improvements.
Integrating various peripheral aspects of the business into a cohesive, omnichannel strategy.
Refining the customer journey to enhance engagement and retention.
The Long-Term Impact of E-Commerce Investment:
Eight years after implementing this strategy, Notcutts has seen a substantial increase in turnover—from £62 million to £79 million. Their ongoing investment in e-commerce has been a critical driver of this growth.
If you're looking to achieve similar results for your e-commerce business—whether it's improving conversion rates, enhancing your site’s functionality, or scaling operations—I'd love to help. Together, we can develop a tailored strategy to drive traffic, boost conversions, and position your brand for long-term success.
If you're ready to take your e-commerce business to the next level, get in touch today.
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