During the pandemic, Blu Technology CEO and President Corbin Collet and Executive VP April Jennesis developed ultraviolet-C (UVC) chamber technology to disinfect face masks, helping their community reuse PPE.
This experience sparked an idea: What if similar technology could be applied to water? From that point on, they shifted their focus to using LED UVC technology to make clean water accessible. And so, Blu Technology was born, offering high-quality portable water filtration products and managing every aspect including design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.
To grow the business, Blu Technology sells its water filtration products online. After building their ecommerce site on the Shopify platform, Blu Technology turned to Shopify’s Marketplace Connect to sell across leading marketplaces.
Shopify Marketplace Connect allows Blu Technology to:
- Expand by selling across Amazon and Walmart Marketplace
- Efficiently manage marketplace sales while the company grew by 258%
- Streamline operations to save an estimated 10 person-hours per week
- Prevent fraudulent orders and the unauthorized reselling of its products
Challenge
Since their products appeal to audiences like DIY vehicle upgraders, RV owners, survivalists, and others, Blu Technology has to find and meet potential customers where they are. This means making products easy to discover and purchase across a variety of channels, like online marketplaces.
The more a business grows across various channels, the more time it needs to manage and oversee each channel. This not only adds up in terms of labor costs, but it also creates more opportunity for error
The more a business grows across various channels, the more time it needs to manage and oversee each channel. This not only adds up in terms of labor costs, but it also leaves more room for error.
From inventory management to order tracking to shipping and more, every detail needs to be accounted for to keep business operations running smoothly when selling across multiple channels. When managing such details in various places all at once, the chance for something to slip through the cracks increases.
In addition, as the brand grows, the risk of fraudulent activity becomes greater. The potential consequences extend beyond Blu Technology and its brand reputation, also putting its customers at risk.
Solution
Blu Technology implemented Shopify Marketplace Connect to manage all of its marketplace channels alongside its online store and other key sales channels—from directly within Shopify.
Shopify is our day-to-day breath. We sell on Amazon, we sell in Walmart and on Shopify’s Shop app, and a couple miscellaneous channels. Everything flows right into Shopify.
“Shopify is our day-to-day breath,” says Corbin. “We sell on Amazon, we sell in Walmart and on Shopify’s Shop app, and a couple miscellaneous channels. Everything flows right into Shopify, and we fulfill orders right out of Shopify.”
With Shopify Marketplace Connect, coupled with Shopify Shipping, Blu Technology manages inventory, orders, shipping, channel reporting, and more, all from one centralized hub.
“We estimate that centralizing channel management in Shopify saves us 10 person hours per week,” Corbin says. This enables Blu Technology’s lean team to spend more time on valuable work like product development, marketing, optimizing listings, and other tasks that drive sales.
“Every [channel] has its own dashboard. But once it’s connected through Shopify, we don’t have to go check Walmart or Amazon Seller Central … everything’s there [in Shopify] … everything for the entire business from shipping to orders and inventory. It’s a full suite.” —Corbin Collet, President & CEO, Blu Technology
Selling on marketplaces allowed Blu Technology to develop and grow its brand recognition, but it also opened up the possibility for fraudulent orders. Thanks to Shopify’s fraud detection capabilities, the company is notified about potential fraud from within its centralized hub and can mitigate a lot of the risk, as well as further investigate suspicious orders before they’re fulfilled.
Results
Since implementing Shopify Marketplace Connect and beginning to sell across channels, Blu Technology has seen impressive results and has streamlined its marketplace operations. Thanks to the centralization that Shopify Marketplace Connect provides, the company manages everything from inventory to shipping across marketplaces—all from within Shopify.
In the first quarter after implementing Shopify Marketplace Connect and optimizing marketplace listings, Blu Technology saw a 3,000% jump in marketplace sales. What’s more, the enhanced brand visibility resulted in a 500% surge in its online store sales within the same quarter.
In the first quarter after implementing Shopify Marketplace Connect and optimizing marketplace listings, Blu Technology saw a 3,000% jump in marketplace sales. What’s more, the enhanced brand visibility resulted in a 500% surge in its online store sales within the same quarter. This success has continued for Blu Technology, which has grown by 258% since the hard launch.
In addition, Shopify’s fraud detection capabilities enabled Blu Technology to prevent more than $40,000 in fraudulent purchases during one specific month in which it was being targeted.
Blu Technology is still growing today, and nearly 30% of all revenue comes from online marketplaces. On the horizon, the company plans to make its water filtration products available in physical retail stores. With its high quality products and optimized selling strategies, Blu Technology hopes to make clean water accessible to all.
