It doesn’t seem right, but having too much business can actually be a dangerous thing for a growing company. That’s a lesson learned by Bradley and Richard Arkell, founders of Dollar Hobbyz, a leading seller of remote control vehicles and parts. Recognizing the opportunity to support remote control buffs like themselves with a convenient way to get their parts, the brothers turned their passionate hobby into a thriving online business.
Perhaps a little too thriving. Sales volumes exploded as RC hobbyists from around the world discovered the Dollar Hobbyz web site. Enthusiasts learned about a source for quality parts at up to 95% off retail prices and the orders poured in. As Dollar Hobbyz expanded into additional online marketplaces, it was becoming progressively more difficult to achieve some of the driving objectives of the company. Dollar Hobbyz was established with the goals of always maintaining a fully stocked inventory and shipping orders the same day they were received. The Arkells didn’t want their customers to ever wait for backorders. They knew any delay in order processing caused by a growing flood of sales was going to have a detrimental effect on customer satisfaction.
The challenge of coordinating inventory among multiple marketplaces was taking its toll on the company and the hard-working founders. Manually updating prices and inventories took too much time and left the company exposed to errors. Items for sale on eBay and the Dollar Hobbyz website would frequently sell at the same time and it was costing the company customers.
The Arkell brothers realized the only way to grow their business and take advantage of marketplaces such as Best Buy and Amazon was to automate. They did extensive research and found that SellerActive had the right tools, along with the support they needed to help manage a substantial increase in the size of the enterprise they were building.
After adopting the SellerActive technology, Dollar Hobbyz’ revenue grew by 68 percent in a single year and their order volume doubled. At the same time, the costs to run their business dropped by 75 percent. Needless to say, Bradley and Richard Arkell are quite pleased with their decision to integrate SellerActive’s pricing, inventory control, and order management systems into their company.
“Without SellerActive’s ability to scale our business, there’d really be no way for us to continue because we’d be so overwhelmed with orders and pricing and inventory,” Bradley said, “Without SellerActive, we would crumble.”
There are many online sellers facing similar obstacles to growth. If, like Dollar Hobbyz, the challenge of managing pricing and inventory across multiple marketplaces is holding you back give us a call here at SellerActive. We’ll help you take your business to a whole new level.
Click here to see the full Dollar Hobbyz Success Story with results stats.
