Elizabeth started the talk with an introduction to her ecommerce business, Ghost Outdoors. The motto was to provide camping gear that can encourage people to go outdoors, even for a short one day trip. Elizabeth and her small team couldn’t find the outdoor gear that pleased them. Therefore, they decided to get them by themselves.

Ghost Outdoors’ customers are specific. Their age is between 20 to 40, mostly living in urban areas. Products sell well in Sydney, Melbourne, New York and Los Angeles. They frequently utilise Facebook Ads as their customer base is clear.

One characteristic of Ghost Outdoors is that they keep a small collection of SKUs. It is a small collection of curated and thoughtful goods that the team loves. When they go through the production, they try to make each SKU a little better than before. Another characteristic is that their products are not seasonal. They don’t have to worry about selling all of their stock.

Elizabeth shared their marketing strategy from last Christmas. One was print advertising. Ghost Outdoors was featured in publications such as Smith Journal and Sunday Times. It was also for free. Their online traffic increased a little bit. They funded several times too. According to Elizabeth, it was a slow burn. It mainly attracted wholesalers and sometimes direct consumers.

Another marketing strategy was email advertising. During the six weeks before Christmas, Ghost Outdoors sent four types of emails. A re-targeting email, a limited promotion email, a new product release email, and a friendly reminder email. The second email had the best performance in sales. They sent this email only once, but it had an open rate of 50%. It also produced three times the revenue of the other emails.

Elizabeth also mentioned their shipping options. Ghost Outdoors provides free shipping for all of their orders. Elizabeth thinks there is a demand in Australia, just like how it is in America. They have tried to provide free Express shipping as well. However, they found it difficult to sustain. Instead, they started providing it with a shipping threshold.

The next topic was Ghost Outdoors’ plans for the upcoming year. Their main plan is to experiment while they have a captive audience that is ready to spend money. Ghost Outdoors has a small team and is self-financed. Therefore, they have to take little steps in development towards sustainability. Luckily, they have an audience that is willing to join the journey.

They sent out a customer survey in August that year. It resulted in a 95% response rate! They were able to receive great feedback. Customers were buying their products as gifts for their friends. They wanted more from their brand. The team also found out that maybe the customers don’t mind hearing more from them. Elizabeth said they decided to continue sending emails.

Elizabeth then shared their plans to prepare for the Christmas season. First, be prepared with many good products. Ghost Outdoors ran out of stock before. They create their products from scratch, taking a long time to re-stock. Elizabeth recommended preparing as early as possible.

Second, continue social and direct marketing as a steady reminder for people looking for gifts. As a part of this, they will focus campaigns on products that produce the highest ROI. Lastly, they will conduct all kinds of tests. It will range from A/B email campaigns to the determination of success and failure. Overall, Ghost Outdoors is going to be data-driven.

Even if Christmas was a failure, Elizabeth reminds the audience that there are always other dates. For Ghost Outdoors, they found out Easter is their second ‘super bowl’ for ecommerce sales. She also advised avoiding burnout and continuing the marathon.