Tool King looking to ratchet up sales by 100% this year
E-retailer Tool King plans to grow in 2006 like never before. The key elements in its strategy: increase total products about 500% from 18,000 to 100,000; expand payment options; extend its international presence; add third-party fulfillment; and make major upgrades to its web site. If all goes well, the company intends to achieve every one of these goals by July 1.
The goal is to increase sales this year by 100%, and it’s already on track based on January and February numbers, says Don Cohen, managing partner at Tool King LLC, No. 282 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites.
“On our web site, we’re increasing product comparisons, incorporating wish lists, bringing in product ratings and reviews, creating a savable shopping cart, enabling smart search, and allowing customers to checkout without having to register on the site,” Cohen says. “Plus, we just added new payment options, including eBill, Bill Me Later and Western Union.”
Beyond 2006, the company’s aggressive goal is to surpass $100 million in sales in the next 30 months.
“We know what we need to do,” Cohen says. “And that will include extending product categories, improving site search, bringing an increased knowledge base online to enable shoppers to find information and products on their own, without having to use our call center. And we’ll be getting more involved with outcalling.” Outcalling notifies customers when new company or product information awaits their perusal.
Cohen says the majority of Tool King’s sales now come from business-to-business commerce, though it still sees plenty of consumer activity. Consequently, the increase in B2B sales is driving up the average ticket and leading to more consistent sales to numerous large accounts, he adds.
In 2004 Tool King web sales hit $10 million. They jumped 50% in 2005 to $15 million. The company projects a 100% increase this year to $30 million.
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