Paul Walker is head of Ecommerce & Systems for a super cool Ecom brand called Runrug and will be speaking at ChannelX World on the 13th of October. Paul spends time focusing on the direction for the business and how they can maximise each digital channel. To hear from Paul, book your conference ticket here.
Located at the London Novotel West, ChannelX World will bring together marketplace, social and messaging retailing for the first time. Throughout the day you’ll meet a diverse range of businesses operating in different sectors and trading across an array of channels from marketplaces to social media and beyond.
How did Runrug get started?
Runrug was formed in 2011 when our Managing Director, Myles Shaw, saw opportunity to expand into the custom length carpet runner market. We first started selling our product on eBay before quickly expanding onto our own website and from there we continued to grow and expand, the rest you could say is history!
We have a strong USP which solves lots of problems for our customer and it’s this that allows us to stand out from the crowd. As time has evolved so has the business and we now sell all across the world, with a large business in the United States. Over time our wonderful team has grown and developed and we are now in a position to launch the business into its next wave of growth!
From a small business selling runners on eBay to an international operation fulfilling orders across the world, it’s been one hell of a ride!
Which channels do you sell on?
We have 6 websites which operate in the UK, US, France, Germany, Australia and Canada. Plus, we sell across Amazon UK, Wayfair and eBay.
Which platforms do you use to manage sales activity?
Our websites are built on a platform called Visualsoft, which is a really powerful Ecommerce platform. Our admin directly integrates with Amazon, Wayfair and eBay so all orders land within our Visualsoft Admin where we can manage and process them accordingly. This might seem a simple set up but the work involved in managing multiple websites and marketplaces, in one place allows for lots of autonomy and efficiencies.
What are you biggest challenges currently?
Our biggest challenges will fall in line with lots of other businesses given the current economic climate. Times are hard, cost of living is increasing across most sectors and there’s a general feel of ‘tough times ahead’ which impacts the likelihood of customers spending. At the same time, we’re forecasting growth and expansion for the business so we give ourselves an uphill task but it’s one the team are relishing!
You are presenting at ChannelX World in October, what can retailers expect to learn?
I am going to be sharing a completely open and honest view on the challenges & opportunity’s you face by selling your products on marketplaces. I live and breathe Ecommerce, Digital & Tech and having worked in Ecommerce for some time, I’ve been exposed to the good, bad and ugly when it comes to selling on marketplaces.
During my presentation I’ll share some of these situations and how we managed them. I’m not here to try and sell a product or service, I’m here to share my thoughts and experience with expanding across numerous marketplace (some successfully and some not so much…) and address some of hurdles that stopped us in our tracks. Why? So you don’t make the same mistakes we made!
