TALKING BUSINESS
BROTHERS WITH A FLAIR FOR DIGITAL SALES
NICK and SIMON MORTON, founders of Supplyant, were among the early entrepreneurs to recognise sales opportunities via the internet. With a track record of helping firms to achieve business growth in e-commerce, they talk to inbusiness about their ‘investment’ approach and their plans for the future
The UK is gaining a growing appetite for e-commerce. Between November 2014 and January 2015, 40% of UK online retail sales were completed through tablets and smartphones, according to latest research from online retail association IMRG and Capgemini released in March. It’s clear the internet has totally revolutionised consumers’
shopping habits but for the majority of companies, digital sales are now become a crucial element of the sales process, which means more businesses are competing online for customers. Recognising sales opportunities created by the
internet, Nick Morton, 42, and his brother Simon, 43, set up Supplyant located in Moulton Park, Northampton, in 2009, to help firms increase their online sales following the success of their own online business selling automotive parts. Nick picks up the story: “We learnt our
trade retailing in e-commerce ourselves for 14 years, before selling in February 2014 to focus on Supplyant. “It all started by offering a website built on a
Not bad for a business which started in the basement of Nick’s Northampton home. Simon tells inbusiness Supplyant prides itself its approach with clients. He describes it as a “partnership” which implies it is a sustained relationship during the sales journey. “We have a number of meetings with our potential clients to
‘SUPPLYANT HAS HELPED MANY COMPANIES
discuss their offering and the potential of developing their online sales – a bit like an induction process – and then make a decision with them as to whether it is worth it for both parties to invest in the online marketing programme. “By ‘invest’ I mean investing in our time and use of our systems - not money. We look to get a return from a profit share on the digital sales. This is a well-established way for a sales teams to be paid. “There has been certain times where we’ve
ACHIEVE DIGITAL SALES GROWTH USING ONLINE MARKETING’
commission basis with a retail partner. As a result of this partnership we grew the online business to over £2million-a-year. It was an exciting time just before the technology bubble because the internet presented new opportunities for selling business-to-business and directly business-to-consumer. “Reflecting back, we began trading online ourselves at the
same time Google launched its search engine. “Simon and I started Supplyant to focus on what we were the
best at, which was to help other businesses use the internet to sell more of what they offer. This could be services or products. We began with four people and have grown to a highly specialist team of 25.” Over the past six years, Supplyant has helped many
companies across a variety of sectors achieve digital sales growth using online marketing. This has resulted in clients breaking into new markets, retaining existing and gaining new customers by driving traffic and converting it into sales through planned merchandising and loyalty programmes. In one instance, the increased digital sales involved a complete
business transformation from a business-to-business distributor to a direct business-to-consumer online business model. Another family business increased its digital sales in five years from £200- a-month to an annual turnover of £50,000 to £60,000. Supplyant's growing client list also proudly includes online
bathroom retailer
bathempire.com which has been listed in The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 as one of Britain's fastest- growing private companies for a phenomenal three consecutive years.
20 inbusiness JUNE/JULY 2015
had turn away potential clients because their ideas or products were not viable. Their goals needed to be realistic and achievable. “There are sound companies out there, however, they just need a bigger or stronger
slant on the digital perspective of the business. “Being a partner ensures we become a
stakeholder and help clients with sustained growth of Simon says Supplyant’s biggest investment to date is
their digital sales.”
developing their own e-commerce system and a product management platform. They have also been taking a proactive approach to supporting
businesses by holding their own free digital marketing seminars on topics such as increasing sales conversions, getting started online, testing and measuring online activity. In fact, the pair delivered a 60 Minute Seminar for
Northamptonshire Chamber last year entitled “How to Make your Website a Top-Performing Salesperson”. With the Supplyant team offering an abundance of advice,
what do they think is the main obstacle or issue for businesses selling their products or services online? Simon responds: “There’s just so many places where you can
list products online now: eBay, Amazon, Google Play – and I’m only scratching the surface. We have a system which sells products across all of these platforms.” Simon also reveals the company is working on a system
which collects competitors’ prices, which they hope to release in the next few months. “In terms of the overall operation, many companies fail
because they don’t have a plan in place.” So what’s next for Supplyant? Nick says: “We have built a remarkable team that is getting
proven results and we’ll continue to build on that. This year is about hitting our own growth targets as well as those of our clients, and that means taking some of our own medicine.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32