Dog owners know the struggle of finding a reliable and secure option for their furry friends, particularly if they have anxious pups. Many spend thousands of dollars and years searching for an enclosure to keep their pets contained for travel, work, veterinary care, or safety.
In 2012, Impact Dog Crates brought to market a robust, secure aluminum dog crate for tough and determined dogs. This family-owned, mission-driven company is trusted by consumers and governments the world over, partnering with shelters, animal rescues, search & rescue teams, and police K-9 units.
Impact Dog Crates knew that reaching people who owned or worked with dogs around the globe was a distinct possibility. With Managed Markets from Shopify, Impact Dog Crates made shipping to those customers seamless and boosted their global growth.
Since enabling Managed Markets from Shopify, Impact Dog Crates has seen the following year-over-year impact:
- 164% global sales growth
- 77% growth in global conversion
- 99% growth in conversion in Canada
The Challenge: Confusion and cross-border costs inhibit international growth
Impact Dog Crates’ journey with Shopify began when they used the platform to build an online store to reach end consumers. Prior to that, their focus was on wholesalers and dropshippers. As Chief Operating Officer Jake Pereira says, Shopify “opened up the door for us to control and manage our own destiny.”
Even though the brand sold domestically almost exclusively, some international shoppers still bought their products, despite a complicated and time-consuming process. “The complexities around duties, taxes, customs, and shipping made buying from us cumbersome if you lived outside of the US,” Jake says. “We knew that any complexity or difficulty on an ecommerce website leads to a shopper dropping off, so we were concerned that we were losing valuable customers.”
Carriers consistently delayed shipments due to unpaid duties, taxes, or incorrect commercial invoices, resulting in international customers calling the Impact Dog Crates team for support. “This was definitely a pain point in the customer experience and the operational process for us,” Jake says.
In one memorable example, Impact Dog Crates shipped a crate to a UK influencer, covering all shipping costs, duties, and taxes in advance. However, the influencer was soon calling the Impact Dog Crates team, informing them that the carrier was asking for duties and taxes to be paid at delivery. Jake and his team spent hours resolving the issue over the phone, but the drain on Impact Dog Crates’ resources and cost to their brand reputation was frustrating.
“We did not like this happening to any of our customers, but it's especially painful when it happens to a new marketing relationship,” says Jake.
Aside from the burden of international duties and taxes, the size and weight of Impact Dog Crates’ products exposed them to high shipping costs. “Shipping to Europe, for example, is pretty costly,” says Jake. “Sometimes shipping costs would make up 50% of the overall cost to the customer. This isn’t an appealing purchasing experience for our customers.”
To grow globally, Impact Dog Crates looked for a solution that would help them streamline their shipping process, reduce costs, and provide a worry-free customer shopping experience.
The Solution: Eliminating global post-shipment stress
After learning about the value Managed Markets could provide for international shipping, the team decided to test it out in hopes that an improved shipping experience would allow them to expand globally. “International growth was always on our corporate strategy roadmap. Managed Markets certainly accelerated the realization of that goal,” says Jake.
Jake attributes Impact Dog Crates' international growth to the improved checkout experience and localization provided through Managed Markets. With the solution enabled, customers can see a product’s pricing in their local currency, prepay for shipping duties and taxes that are listed transparently on the checkout page and then receive their order. There is no confusion or misunderstanding, and Jake has seen a decline in customer service phone calls as a result.
Before implementing Managed Markets, Jake and his team were concerned that customs could delay or reject any shipment. After launching Managed Markets, that post-shipment stress has disappeared. “Having Managed Markets take care of the customs portion ensures that it is done correctly and makes our lives easier,” Jake says.
Managed Markets has become core to the team’s plan to reduce shipping costs for customers. “We approached the shipping cost problem in two ways,” says Jake. “First, we increased operational efficiencies by enabling Managed Markets. Second, we redesigned our product to reduce our shipping package size.”
With the data now available through Managed Markets, Impact Dog Crates can assess where people view their web site from and which geographies are making new—and repeat—purchases. This data is used to help test and validate their regional market assumptions. “There are a lot of dog owners globally, and Impact Dog Crates wants to meet the needs of all of them,” says Jake.
The Results: Paws-itive international growth
With Managed Markets from Shopify, the Impact Dog Crates team can now bring their passion for canine care into new markets without the hassle of handling shipping logistics. Six months after getting started with Managed Markets, Impact Dog Crates saw a 164% increase in global sales and 77% increase in global conversions. In Canada alone, conversions went up 99%.
“Managed Markets gave us the capacity to ask, ‘What would it look like to expand into Canada? Europe? Australia?’ Markets that have high dog ownership are absolutely on the radar for the company,” says Jake.
In addition to expanding advertising into previously untapped regions, Jake is thinking about evolving operations for Impact Dog Crates even further. “The next step is to take the technology platform of Managed Markets and pair it with localized warehousing and fulfillment. That's going to be the key to expanding our international presence.”
With over one-third of households worldwide owning a dog, the Impact Dog Crates team now sees a clear path to reaching anyone who wants the best for their furry best friend.
Managed Markets’ features and usability are powerful for any business looking to expand internationally. The ability to turn on regional stores with local currency, duties, and taxes already set up is unparalleled and makes international expansion a lot more attainable.