CASE STUDY:
How I helped this purpose-led honey brand to move from overwhelm to action and drive 70% YOY growth in the process.
Where we started
In January 2024 the Black Bee Honey team had identified ecommerce as their biggest growth opportunity for the year, but they didn’t know where to start.
The Covid boom and post-Covid slump
Like so many businesses the brand’s ecommerce channels had thrived during the covid-19 pandemic. Since then with rising costs of advertising and shopping habits shifting back to pre-pandemic patterns, these channels had stagnated and they’d lost their direction.
The Black Bee Honey founders were looking for a clear and actionable strategy to drive growth over the next 12 months which they could execute with their lean team.
Diving in
As with all strategy projects I started with a deep dive:
I spent time in person with the team getting to know how everything worked, what didn’t work so well and where their biggest pain points were.
I audited their Shopify store and Amazon accounts down to product listing copy and shipping processes.
I created simplified P&Ls for each channel to highlight profitability and inform product pricing and ad spend.
I reviewed their marketing channels including CRM, social and running an SEO audit on their site to identify opportunities.
Designing their ecommerce blueprint
Having scoped out the opportunity, and diagnosed the issues, the next step was to create the strategic framework to drive focus and impact.
With a small and mighty team it was crucial to focus on the key areas where we could make the biggest difference:
Clarity in the product range, price architecture and content
Low-cost traffic driving initiatives (primarily through CRM and SEO)
Developing a premium gifting proposition
From ecommerce strategy into action
It’s all very well having a shiny deck with a growth strategy, but a strategy is only as good as the execution.
The final phase of the project was to develop a laser focused, granular action plan to lay out for the team exactly what to do, how to do it, and how to prioritise.
Following this we had 3, monthly check-in calls to talk through progress, answer any questions that had arisen and refocus on next steps.
The Results
70%
Ecommerce revenue increase in 2024 vs 2023.
2x
In Q4 alone sales grew by more than 2x YOY,
+10%
DTC conversion rate increase to 3.4%, even with a 56% increase in sessions
This success has unlocked the breathing room, the budget and the confidence to invest in content production and advertising to drive further growth.
Amazon sales are thriving and continuing to build momentum. The brand is consistently in the top 10 bestsellers for the honey category against some much cheaper and poorer quality alternatives
Paul
Black Bee Honey“Imogen shot past our expectations at lightning speed. The whole process was engaging and with much needed clarity. Imogen went above and beyond with the delivery with meticulous research, planning and a well thought through delivery.”
More Case Studies
