In 2017, TKEES was a thriving wholesaler with a popular range of Brazilian-made sandals and flip-flops designed in neutral shades—but the company had never sold its footwear online.
Daniel Abramov’s appointment as Chief Digital Officer that year helped change the game and set TKEES on a journey of ecommerce success. Today the brand offers an ever-expanding range of footwear and apparel directly to a global audience of consumers.
The drive to go online came from the top—CEO Jesse Burnett—and Daniel says it was a gamble that has paid off big time.
“In 2018, we pressed the pedal to the metal, pressed that gas, and really accelerated the company,” he says.
“People are looking for your website and, until you create one, they’re reaching your competitors, or they’re reaching your wholesale partners. They’re reaching someone, but not you.”
Daniel puts TKEES’ growth down partly to new ecommerce marketing strategies. The company worked with direct mailers, affiliates, and influencers, and also ran a number of digital ad campaigns as part of a more holistic approach.
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TKEES ultimately wanted to discover where it could best reach its customers and the ideal way to communicate with them.
“If you recognize that the customer lives and exists in the real world just as much as they do in the digital space, you can gear your marketing toward that,” Daniel says.
TKEES’ retail success set it apart from other online merchants and dictated how it developed its broader ecommerce strategies.
“We’re constantly reinventing ourselves,” Daniel says. “We’re always looking at new categories and vertices to go into.” The company now sells different clothing ranges online alongside its well-known footwear.
“When I first joined TKEES, online was about 10% to 15% of the business. In the [past] five years or so, we are now doing about 60% online.”
Tune in to the full Shopify Masters episode to hear how TKEES launched its online presence and how you can approach your ecommerce marketing.
