CROSSNET, a D2C brand reinventing volleyball, achieved impressive 4X year-on-year growth by creating a new sports category and leveraging digital marketing. This episode reveals how they built an "epidemic-proof" business through product innovation, strategic partnerships, and community engagement, offering valuable lessons for ecommerce operators aiming for rapid, sustainable growth in niche markets.
Key takeaways
Focus on creating a unique product that solves a problem or creates a new category, as CROSSNET did with four-square volleyball, to differentiate in a crowded market and drive organic growth.
Implement a robust digital marketing strategy encompassing social media, influencer partnerships, and community building to rapidly scale a D2C brand, especially when introducing a novel product.
Prioritize building a resilient business model by understanding customer acquisition and lifetime value, enabling sustained growth even amidst economic downturns or retail slowdowns.
Leverage platforms like Klaviyo for personalized customer experiences and Rewind for data backup to ensure operational efficiency and safeguard your ecommerce business.
Actively engage with your customer community and encourage user-generated content to foster brand loyalty and create a powerful network effect for your product.
On today’s episode, Kunle interviews the founder of a direct-to-consumer brand creating an entirely new sports game called Crossnet that is rapidly growing at a 4X Year-on-Year rate despite the current slowdown in retail. You don’t want to miss this one - do stay tuned! Crossnet is volleyball reimagined - so instead of the typical two-sided court setup of volleyball, Crossnet is a four-square volleyball game that can be set up on sand, grass, or indoors. Their growth rates are impressive: 2017 set up and prototyping 2018 - $75k 2019 - $2.5m 2020 - $8-10m (estimated) ----------- Daily Pulse - Klaviyo ----------- Calling all eCommerce Marketers and Founders, Klaviyo have put together this daily survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the industry. Please fill it out here, it will take only 2-minutes. Results will be emailed to you daily So go ahead and support it by completing the form: 2xecommerce.com/covid ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups! For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewi
Focus on creating a unique product that solves a problem or creates a new category, as CROSSNET did with four-square volleyball, to differentiate in a crowded market and drive organic growth.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Implement a robust digital marketing strategy encompassing social media, influencer partnerships, and community building to rapidly scale a D2C brand, especially when introducing a novel product.
What does this episode say about paid acquisition?
Prioritize building a resilient business model by understanding customer acquisition and lifetime value, enabling sustained growth even amidst economic downturns or retail slowdowns.
What does this episode say about finance & fundraising?
Leverage platforms like Klaviyo for personalized customer experiences and Rewind for data backup to ensure operational efficiency and safeguard your ecommerce business.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Actively engage with your customer community and encourage user-generated content to foster brand loyalty and create a powerful network effect for your product.
