South Bend Woodworks is a small, family-owned company focused on producing heirloom-quality wooden goods. Located in Indiana, the brand got its start creating children’s step stools and Notre Dame memorabilia, and over the last decade has expanded its assortment to customizable puzzles, learning tools, cutting boards, and more—all built by a team of woodworkers who infuse pride in every piece they touch.
At the beginning of 2020, South Bend Woodworks committed to establishing themselves as a major player on Amazon—but they didn’t see the marketplace growth they’d expected. The team was tired of trying to decipher the nuances of Amazon Advertising, and they couldn’t devote the time they needed in order to take their ecommerce presence from good to great.
And with such a Q4-heavy sales season (over half of product sales took place between October and December), they needed to fix their marketplace strategy fast.
South Bend Woodworks met with a few Amazon agencies but weren’t getting exactly what they needed—results. Then they found SupplyKick and our Agency services. At the start of our partnership in June 2020, South Bend Woodworks was returning from a pandemic shutdown in production and needed to get back up and running. The Woodworks team relied on SupplyKick to scale their marketplace business while they figured out how to safely return to work.
“We knew we were going to run into challenges during the pandemic, and I had to be able to trust that whoever we were working with could handle Amazon in the meantime on their own and get the job done,” says Mike Lindburg, Managing Director at South Bend Woodworks. “SupplyKick provided us with the expertise and attention we needed for our brand. They gave us a level of comfort that should crazy things happen (and they certainly did!), we could step away and the ship would keep running.”
While the South Bend Woodworks team turned their attention to production and expansion, SupplyKick reviewed the brand’s existing Amazon Advertising campaigns and implemented Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Brands Video ads. Sponsored Brands Video, featuring lifestyle video as well as an animated video created by SupplyKick, generated an incremental $20k in sales at their target advertising cost of sale (ACoS).
As the 2020 holiday season drew near, SupplyKick monitored search terms on Amazon to uncover new opportunities and identify patterns in how customers were shopping for puzzles. Our team reacted quickly when traffic for children's gifts exploded in Q4, and as a result, South Bend Woodworks saw a 630% increase in ad-attributed sales in Q4 2020.
Simultaneously, SupplyKick developed brand marketing assets for all South Bend Woodworks product listings This included keyword-rich copy and A+ Content featuring messaging and imagery that captured the heart of their handmade products and community-minded mission. SupplyKick also shot new lifestyle photography highlighting quality craftsmanship, features, and showing children interacting with and loving their products. From these updates, South Bend Woodworks saw a 30% increase in conversion attributed to Photography and A+ Content.
When it came time to launch cutting boards on Amazon in addition to their existing product assortment, SupplyKick broadened the Woodworks story and product offerings in a cohesive, intentional way that would successfully attract new and existing audiences.
One of SupplyKick’s biggest creative efforts was designing an Amazon Storefront for the brand (see their Amazon store in action here). Once implemented, South Bend Woodworks saw a 30% sales per visitor increase attributed to their Amazon Store. With this performance, SupplyKick proactively updated their store to garner engagement based on upcoming gift-giving seasons and holidays. Our creative team transformed their Storefront in Q4 to appeal to Christmas shoppers and in Q1 to promote their products for Easter.
“Ultimately the Woodworks is about personalized and handmade products. SupplyKick puts together creative that interweaves the two in a way that is coherent and continues to further engage customers when they land on our Amazon Storefront,” Lindburg adds.
After more than doubling their Amazon revenue in 2020, South Bend Woodworks continues to hit their stride on the marketplace. Next up: beating their 2021 revenue goals, expanding their childhood development product line, and elevating their brand on Amazon and beyond.
Read our full interview with South Bend WoodWorks for their story and tips for selling handmade goods on Amazon. Looking for more info on an Agency partnership with SupplyKick? Explore our services and offerings and reach out to our team to get a conversation started.
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