Welcome!
Welcome to this e-commerce business case study! Today, we had the pleasure of interviewing Simon Wright of Limited100. We hope you enjoy this interview, and find some nuggets to inspire you as you seek to start or grow your own online brand.
Interview with Simon
Thank you for joining us for this e-commerce business success story! We’d like to start by getting an understanding of your backstory. How did you come to own your business?
I’ve always been into cars and having worked in the world of e-commerce for over a decade, it was only a matter of time until I wanted to launch an automotive e-commerce business. In 2020 I was looking for a picture of a Lamborghini Miura for my first home and stumbled upon artist Paul Ward’s work and had a brainwave; how about a range of exclusive handcrafted automotive wall art that caters for car connoisseurs around the world? We talked and Paul was the first artist to join my new e-commerce business, Limited100.’
After three years of website and product development, I now have seven artists contributing work, more than 400 different artworks (each of which is limited to 100 editions per image, available in a wide range of print formats, including framed, natural wood canvas, aluminium composite and acrylic glass). Limited100 now has more than 250 customers across 30+ countries and the business has grown year-on-year. Our average order is around £280 and some customers spend as much as £2,000, with many repeat orders.
Terrific! Now, this article is about profiling successful e-commerce businesses. So – can you share your top 3 keys to running a successful online brand?
- Be consistent with your branding and tone of voice – create an environment where your customers feel at home. With luxury brands in particular, attention to detail with design and website grammar are crucial.
- Develop a brand story and centre it around your customers’ needs and desires. A luxury brand like Limited100, in essence, needs to be a storyteller through the eyes of a client.
- Try to do at least one thing per day, however small. Read Atomic Habits by James Clear to better understand the compound effect.
Excellent. Now, I’m sure it hasn’t always been that easy. Can you tell a story about one challenge, setback, or mistake that you’ve had to overcome on the road to success? How can others learn from your mistakes?
The biggest challenge I’ve faced was sourcing developers around the world to customise my Shopify website. There is enormous diversity in quality of work and if you can find a developer that is more like a partner, then they’re worth their weight in gold. The best developers I’ve worked with never overpromise.
Thanks for that. Now – we want to know what’s next! What new initiatives are you rolling out at your business and what results are you hoping to see?
Our next plans are to continue to expand our product range, to cater for petrolheads’ plethora of tastes. Some prefer classic cars, some modern and each customer has their own desired print format to suit their home, office, garage or man cave. We will remain a single-channel Shopify retailer for the foreseeable future, but want to develop our Klaviyo email marketing automation and to also expand into new social media channels, organically at first and then if I can make a solid business case, I will test paid channels too.
Sounds exciting! Any final words of advice for our readers?
If you’re stressing about how to come up with a business idea, think about what you’re truly passionate about. Then think if there are any unmet needs from consumers in that market. Always develop your skills and remember the importance of having a salaried full-time job. I have a moderately successful online store yet still need a full-time job to pay my mortgage. Perhaps one day I won’t need to, but the benefit of having a main job is it takes the stress away from running your online store so you can really focus on the aspects that you enjoy.
Brilliant! We want to thank you for participating in today’s interview. Hopefully our readers agree that there is a lot to be learned from your brand’s story. What links can our readers use to follow along with your journey?
Thank you for the opportunity! You can visit our website here: https://www.limited100.co.uk, and follow us on Instagram @limited100hq to see our latest customers’ orders.
