The Next Staples?

I decided to blog about a company called Shoplet.com - an American company, which sells office products online. The company was founded ten years ago, in our beloved New York City, by an ex-Goldman Sachs Investment Banker and now is on the verge of doing more than 100 million USD in revenue ( pure organic growth, no outside funding). That Shoplet.com is doing so well and has continued to grow aggressively throughout the recession and despite being in one of the toughest and most saturated markets where big retailers like Staples and Office Depot dominate every street corner; reinforces the enormous potential that the web endows to those who are able to manipulate it to create value to customers. The internet marketing techniques that shoplet.com utilizes would be useful to implement in any e-commerce startup or established company.  

Some internet marketing techniques they use and which we've discussed in class:1) they carry thousands more products than their big retail competitors because their costs are lower and they can cater to the "long tail" just as Amazon.com and other successful e-commerce companies have. 2)The company has extensive affiliate relationships with the likes of Yahoo and Amazon who promote their brand, but also with their numerous suppliers that bring them additional business through their own websites. 3) The website also uses RSS feeds to inform customers of the latest promotions and hot selling items. 4)They employ an extensive e-mail marketing campaign which focuses on customer retention and repeat orders. 5)They have a simple and efficient web interface which makes use so easy despite a complicated and vast product range. 6)They have applications on social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace which center around buying their green friendly products and which appeals to young people and creates a next wave of customers for them. 7)Shoplet.com even uses "click to chat" as a means of assisting customers in their purchases and in customizing the shopping experience for the customer.

I've learned quite a bit from this website and look forward to rolling out similar Internet marketing strategies globally for my family's business: www.office1international.com.