Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Mike: Hi, welcome to our interview series, where we interview successful Shopify store
owners. I’m here today with Alon Tamir, who’s the owner of two Shopify stores, The
Wallee, which has been around for about a year now, as well as the new product, Pix
& Stix. We’re going to talk to him about Shopify, and a few other things. So hello
Alon… You’re all the way in Australia, so I guess it’s very early there…
Alon: It’s very early, I’m also sitting upside down.
Mike: We’ll fix that in the editing process. Why don’t you start by telling us about
the first Shopify store you opened, for the Wallee, what the product is?
Alon: The Wallee started out as a wall-mount solution for the iPad. Everyone was using it to consume
media, but the first iPad was heavier than people expected, and when you’re sitting
down to watch a half hour tv show, a longer movie, it gets a little cumbersome. To improve
the experience, and create a wall mount and turn it into an Apple tv, is how the idea
came about… That was the initial product we came up with, it was a hard case for the
iPad, obviously everyone’s very protective of their iPads, so the solution needed to
include some kind of protective case. But it had this really cool extra functionality,
so you could put it up on the wall. So we added these wall mounts, which are these neat
little discs that sit on the wall, and you can very easily mount it on the wall, and
move it from portrait to landscape.
Once it was out there, we realized people wanted to use it in a myriad of ways. What
we designed is a system that has many uses. We then went on to build a range of accessories,
including an Imax style desktop mount, a kickstand that can be used in typing as well as photo
display, we added a Vesa adapter, so it can used with the thousands of swing-arms, so
you can do anything to it, like build it into a kitchen cabinet.
Mike: That’s really cool how it’s grown. You’ve launched a new site recently, Pix
& Stix, tell us about that.
Alon: Garage Band for the iPad launched soon after the iPad 2 was announced. I’m a musician,
so it’s something that spoke to me. Doing it with my fingers didn’t really cut it,
it was about improving the experience. I realized there was a way we could make it a more realistic
experience. The beautiful thing about Garage Band is it presents you with the actual instrument,
so why stop and use your fingers? We found we’ve had amazing feedback from a broad
spectrum.
Mike: Playing around with the iPad is how you saw the need?
Alon: The iPad is really inspirational, it really pushes boundaries. We found that really
inspiring, it helps us create these cool products.
Mike: We’ll come back to Pix & Stix later. When did you start Wallee?
Alon: Wallee was started around February 2010, and we launched around July.
Mike: Before you started Wallee, what was your work experience?
Alon: I’d been involved in web development, I’d done a little work in email marketing,
I lived in New York for close to eight years. But I got a little bit tired of designing
for the web, and that’s where I got into real-world product development.
Mike: Has Wallee become a full time job for you?
Alon: Yes. Wallee’s a full time job, and we’ve built a design studio around the Wallee
that we are now, to create new products.
Mike: Since you brought up, why don’t you talk about how you’ve grown the Wallee team?
When did you bring the first person on and how did you make the decision to do that?
Alon: The two main pillars of our company are creation and creativity, and then service.
We believed those were the two positions that needed to be focused on first. I brought on
an industrial engineer, to create, and a customer service person to help serve our customers.
It got to a point where it was impossible for me to handle all those things. About four
months ago, I decided it was time, I really pushed it to the limit of keeping it lean.
You get to the point where there’s an obvious need.
Mike: You mentioned new products, I saw on your blog you had a partnership with Tether
Tools, to make specific Wallee tools for the professional photographer. What are those
products that you partnered with them to make?
Alon: Tether Tools creates an amazing array of tools for photographers, so you can tether
all your tools to a single stand. You can put your Mac on it, your camera, all the other
equipment… The one thing missing was a way to integrate the iPad into the workflow. Tether
Tools approached us, and they wanted to include our locking mechanism, and create something
that would work with their system.
Mike: What advantages have you found by partnering with someone, trying to get into that industry
themselves?
Alon: Industries like photography are real niche industries, if you’re in it you know
a lot about it, if you outside, you’re a hobbyist, and you don’t know that much.
Tether tools are a big part of that industry, and they’re really loved, their products
are raved about. The best way to enter a new industry is to partner with the best of breed,
and that’s what Tether Tools is. Partnerships are a far healthier way to start.
Mike: I also saw that you recently opened a warehouse in L.A. to process the North American
orders. You’re obviously in Australia. What lead to the decision, and what brought you
to the point where you had to open up?
Alon: It all came down to providing customer service, filling orders quickly, and fulfilling
that expectation. It was also a matter of volume. The combination of the demand on us
as well as the desire to deliver to our biggest market in a quick, efficient matter. We were
also able to create an automatic system on Shopify, synchs up with our system in L.A.,
so within 12 hours of an order being placed, the order is dispatched. We have situations
quite often where people need our products quickly, and we want to support that.
Mike: Do you have any advice for people who are looking to outsource their fulfilment
of products? Any learnings or tips?
Alon: I guess just do it, to be honest. It is a process. The earlier you start to think
about it, the better it’s going to be. We probably left it a little late. The key takeaway
is start planning it earlier, at least have the groundwork done, so you can switch it
on when the time is right.
Mike: I notice that you offer free shipping on Wallee purchases. Is that something you’ve
offered since the beginning, was there a particular thought process?
Alon: We launched with that being our offer. It’s all about low barriers. We were very
honest with ourselves and the community, in that we were a new brand. Today, over a year
later, we’re making serious investments in our shipping and logistics, and we find
that people are probably willing to pay a nominal fee. It’s quite possible that will
change, but I think when you’re brand new, it’s important to lower the barriers, and
free shipping is an easy way to do that.
Mike: Every consumer loves free shipping.
Alon: They really do. We’re trying to figure out our next solution, but we find customers
are willing to pay a little bit more.
Mike: I’d like to take a look at the Wallee site. What Shopify theme are you using?
Alon: We’re using the Fresh theme. I got in touch with the developer and we modified
it for our needs.
Mike: You’re happy with the free rein you had over customization of design?
Alon: There’s really nothing we couldn’t do.
Mike: You also use a few apps on your site, one of which is the Campaign Monitor app.
Can you tell us what that app does and why you use it?
Alon: We use that app to synch our website subscribers and buyers list. We communicate
with both of those lists separately, and Campaign Monitors have made it an easy way to send
emails. We have a real-time database.
Mike: So someone enters their email address, that information is automatically updated
on your list?
Alon: That information goes straight into our monitor list. As soon as a purchaser checks
out, it’s updated as well, so we can communicate with them immediately.
Mike: Do you use the Pixel Printer app?
Alon: We actually don’t.
Mike: Let’s move over to Pix & Stix. You actually launched your site before the product
was produced?
Alon: We launched the concept and decided to use a kick-starter style funding and model.
Mike: People who aren’t familiar with the kick-starter model, it’s a website where
you can go and raise money for a project or a product. People chip in, and if it meets
a funding goal, they get something that was promised to them. Kick-starter is more American-based,
is that the reason you did it on your own?
Alon: We did it more as a test. We weren’t an unknown, kick-starter is great for unknowns.
We wanted to give it a shot and see how it might work based on our own recognition. I
think it’s worked exceedingly well for us.
Mike: You’ve met your funding goal, and now into the manufacturing phase. Both the
Wallee, and Pix & Stix involves a lot of manufacturing. How do you source and find manufacturers to
work with?
Alon: That was a massive challenge for the Wallee. It was the unknown. I realized very
quickly you have to go there. If it’s China, you really have to get on a plane, and that’s
really what I did. I jumped on a plane, never been there before. Landed in China, I’d
arranged before I left to be in touch with 10 manufacturing companies, I was in touch
before I left and asked to have a tour of their company, and I stayed in China for two
weeks, had a series of tour of factories. Once you start touring factories, you get
an idea for the legitimacy, what will be in line with what you want to do. We are making
high quality products, that’s not necessarily something that’s easy to do in China.
Mike: That was an investment at the beginning, but you would say it’s worth it?
Alon: I would say it’s essential. If the product arrives on your doorstep and it’s
not what you want, you’re in a lot of trouble. I believe in doing things right from the get-go.
Mike: On the Pix & Stix site, since it’s still in manufacturing, it’s got lots of
pictures. Can you walk us through what the major milestones are in the manufacture of
a product?
Alon: You start out with a picture of a product, what do you want it to look like? Then you communicate with the manufacturer,
go back and forth, negotiating… Then you move onto creating the actual moulds that
will print these products, and that’s the longest phase, that’s where the hard waiting
periods exists. Then you get to see the test shots, which is amazing. You get to touch
and feel and play with it. Two steps back, when you’re designing, you uncover things
you hadn’t thought of.
We started with a design that had just the tips of the products as being the capacity
of component, and then we’d a material that was conductive to the rest of the product.
We found out that didn’t function well, so we had to extend the footprint of that
capacity of rubber material, and there were design adjustments. You learn a lot, you fine-tune
the product, then you get those moulds, and you test the product.
Mike: In Pix & Stix, what was the biggest roadblock?
Alon: I think it’s really more about the evolution of a product, and allowing the time
to get there. Manufacturing is complex. The biggest roadblock is an entrepreneur is not
a manufacturer. There’s a really steep learning curve.
Mike: How long has it taken on Pix & Stix, from the first drawings sent to the manufacturer?
Alon: I think at the moment we’re at three months. Pix & Stix is not just a simple mould
product, it has a lot of mould components. There’s the extra complexity, because you
have to create additional moulds.
Mike: Sounds like you’ve become a bit of an expert…
Alon: I never thought I would, but you have to.
Mike: You’re the first Australian I’ve interview, I was wondering if you have any
tips, how is running an online store different in Australia than anywhere else?
Alon: What you run into very quickly are the logistics issues. The vast majority of your
customer base are going to be very far away. The reality is it’s a big world. Supporting
your customers and ensuring you’re getting the product delivered quickly and efficiently.
It ties into what we spoke about earlier, in biting the bullet and
really getting the logistics in order sooner, rather than later.
Mike: Thanks a lot for your time. Before we go, why don’t you give us the URL for your
sites…
Alon: The Wallee is at www.thewallee.com, and Pix & Stix is www.pixandstix.com. We’ve
got a lot of new products
coming up.
Mike: Well
thanks a lot for your time.