Aosom sells a range of home, garden, pet and car accessories across six individual brands. It has gone from strength to strength after launching on the marketplace, ManoMano, which has over four million products in six countries. Diego Castro, Account Manager at Aosom, explains how the collaboration has helped the business grow.
Since launching on ManoMano five years ago, Aosom has gone from strength to strength as a result of the dedicated support, guidance and advanced technology provided by the marketplace. The e-tailer has seen sales increase by an impressive 289% and the expansion of territorial growth, owing to the organic fit of Aosom’s product offering and the nature of the home improvement, DIY and garden marketplace ManoMano specialises in.
Established in 2009, Aosom is a UK-based multi-channel e-commerce retailer offering a breadth of home, garden, pet and car accessories across six individual brands, with quality, innovative designs and affordability being the core values of the business.
Collaborating with ManoMano
Unlike other marketplaces, ManoMano specialises and is dedicated to home improvement, DIY and gardening, and Aosom recognised the technology and expertise the marketplace could offer in leveraging its visibility in the specialist market.
From the beginning of the partnership, Aosom’s dedicated ManoMano Account Manager has provided invaluable advice and guidance to support and empower business growth, sharing market insights and data to help inform key business decisions for the brand and identify opportunities for progression.
During this growth period, ManoMano also delivered customer-facing service support, working closely with Aosom’s internal team to provide shoppers with expert product knowledge and an excellent customer experience.
Looking ahead: Aosom and ManoMano, a partnership with great potential
ManoMano’s advanced technology, including its proprietary algorithms and digital marketing efforts, also help to optimise and provide greater visibility traffic to Aosom’s product offering. Confident in the increased scope to reach customers and drive sales through ManoMano, Aosom has expanded its product categories to include office, bathroom and furniture.
Looking ahead in 2021, the e-tailer is working towards curating product collections exclusive to ManoMano to further grow its UK market share.
Diego Castro, Account Manager at Aosom, said: “We crossed paths with ManoMano in March 2016 and have been successfully listing with the platform ever since. The partnership has indeed been quite natural, thanks to our selection of products and the expertise and the customer market which ManoMano has been able to offer us in return. ManoMano, which we all know as being experts in the DIY and outdoor living market, have understood our business aims and objectives since day one.”
Castro tells Intelligent SME.tech more about the partnership.
What is Aosom’s USP?
We are an e-commerce retailer that sells a range of homeware, kitchen, garden and outdoor, pet, office and car products. Our business concept and USP is based around ensuring we deliver our core values which we have instilled since day one – excellent products, innovative designs and superb customer service – all at a price which is affordable and within reach for all.
How did you discover ManoMano?
When researching marketplaces and partners to work with, we discovered ManoMano. We know they have a great relationship with their consumers and their seller strategy is about building mutually beneficial partnerships, which is something we really value, so it was a no brainer!
As a marketplace, what appealed to you about ManoMano?
Unlike other marketplaces, ManoMano specialises in, and is dedicated to, home improvement, DIY and gardening, and we really liked this specialist approach. We also recognised the technology and expertise that ManoMano could offer in terms of leveraging our visibility in the specialist market.
Are any of your products or curated collections exclusively sold through ManoMano?
Currently we do not have any products or curated collections that are exclusively sold through ManoMano, but this is something we are looking to achieve in this year. ManoMano is the destination for home, DIY and garden, and we are working collaboratively to ensure we are offering our customers on trend products at great value alongside the help and advice that is also available on the site.
Since launching on ManoMano, what impact has this had on the growth of the business?
We have seen impressive growth in the last year, from both the pandemic and through the customer base and visibility we get from working with ManoMano. Our DIY and garden sales have increased by 200%, which has in turn increased the profit for ManoMano who in 2020 achieved over €1.2 billion in business volume.
Has the business increased its offering or expanded categories/ brands since joining ManoMano?
Absolutely, with a wider customer base comes more demand. We already had an extensive range across our categories but since working with ManoMano, we have expanded our offering to include office, bathroom and furniture which is proving popular.
What facilities does ManoMano offer that other online sales channels do not? In what way does it speed up your business?
ManoMano is committed to providing and building very close relationships with sellers. Each seller has a dedicated person to support its business and we work very closely with our account manager to ensure our range, offering and price is working for us, them and most importantly, the customers.
Our account manager has provided invaluable advice and guidance to support and empower business growth, sharing market insights and data to help inform key business decisions for the brand and identify opportunities for progression.
They also have great deals on products which helps us to meet the demands and service levels and to help customers with their purchases
How has ManoMano enabled you to take your product beyond country borders?
We have seen the expansion of territorial growth and are excited to continue our journey.
What are the future challenges for e-commerce in the UK and how will the support from ManoMano benefit your sales operations?
Some key challenges will be continuing to manage increased demand and increased competition and ManoMano offers a number of initiatives to help with both – by giving us the visibility on a growing platform and there is fulfilment support also available.
Another challenge is the ever-changing customer demand and behaviour – delivering excellent quality, great value, a seamless experience and fantastic customer service is more important than ever, and we need to ensure we are working hard to meet all of these expectations. We’re working hand in hand with our customer services team to give our customers the best experience and knowledge on our products.
What are your development plans moving forwards and why?
We are looking to increase our portfolio of products which should allow us to grow our market share with ManoMano.
What role did ManoMano’s Account Manager play in driving growth?
The ManoMano Account Manager has played a valuable role in increasing sales, especially when it comes to launching a new product range and product offers. The team has also helped us to plan ahead for promotional events and sales.
Which aspects of ManoMano’s advanced technology have been the most important to scale up?
ManoMano’s integration with the most trusted e-commerce solution software has allowed us to grow our business in a smooth and quick way. ManoMano’s advanced technology, including its proprietary algorithms and digital marketing efforts, also help to optimise and provide greater visibility and traffic to our product offering