Happy Reading
Stephanie Leffler says anybody who thinks a successful eCommerce business is about putting up a website in five minutes and counting the money in their pajamas is in for a rude awakening. To her, eCommerce is a real business that requires every bit the investment of time, energy and money that any business does.
It is that attitude that drove her to success in her first eCommerce business—one that she started while she was still in college. She launched an Internet sales company pushing sun protection products. She (and a partner) wrote a business plan, invested capital, and grew a successful company. Typically that would be the whole story. But there is a sidebar here. Shortly after her startup, Ms Leffler hired a little web development company called Website
, because they had what she needed in her startup—almost. This is where the sidebar becomes the big story.
PeC: Not many customers end up as CEO of one of their vendors. How did you become the Chief Executive of MonsterCommerce?
Leffler: When I wrote a business plan and started my company in my senior year of college I became a customer of a very small company that had about ten storefront clients. I quickly became a pretty vocal customer. I had a lot of suggestions as to what the company could do to make their storefront service better, and I didn't hesitate to offer those suggestions. The owner and I got to know each other pretty well, and one day he said, “Would you consider investing in my business since you're interested in eCommerce?”
I told him yes, in fact, I would be interested. In looking at the business plan, it became obvious to me (and my business partner) that MonsterCommerce had some promise as a company. We ended up investing profits from our first company, in MonsterCommerce and I went to work in it. For sometime, I was the Vice President of Sales, then in September of 2004 we had a meeting and made the joint decision that we needed a clear leader for the company in order for it to grow. At that time we decided that I would become the CEO.
PeC: Here's is a little startup company that had flaws, which you pointed out. What was it that attracted you to it strongly enough to put your own money into it?
Leffler: Well, when I first got involved in MonsterCommerce it was early 2000. At that time, there weren't many options out there for business owners who wanted to start up an eCommerce business. Most people went to a local web developer, who really didn't know about online selling, and the success ratio was probably 25 percent or less. I actually tried to go that route. The reason I found
Commerce at that time was I had some trouble with the web developer. I heard by word of mouth that this little company had built a system that small business owners could actually use themselves. They don't have to rely on a web developer. That was what really attracted me. I had the drive to start and run my business and I knew that if I could (technically) build my store I could get it done the way I wanted to.
PeC: Commerce aside, you must have had a high level of confidence in fledgling eCommerce industry as a whole, even after the dot com crash. What made you think at that time, that eCommerce was going to be a big business someday?
Leffler: Ecommerce was very young.
We had a brief interruption in the interview with Stephanie at this point while she corralled her two puppies, which were chasing someone down the hall.
Leffler: Sorry about that. Now, at the time eCommerce was very much a baby and it was kind of a risky time to get into this business. We heard things all the time like “Why are you guys doing that,” or “The Internet is dying.” But that was a philosophy that I never subscribed to. I had seen the power of the Internet. Sure, I realized that at the time it wasn't doing well. A lot of people had thought it was going to catch on a lot more quickly than it did. But in 2000 most people didn't have high speed Internet access, and it was very obvious that until the Internet became faster and convenient enough that it was easier than shopping a traditional way, people just weren't going to get involved.
My perspective was that the Internet business was barely seeing the tip of the iceberg. I still thought there was tremendous promise. I had a lot of confidence that online shopping would become a lot more popular than it was.
One reasons was, I also knew that small businesses struggle to get customers. You ask any business owner in a small town, “Hey would you like expose your business to 10,000 more people?” and they are going to say yes. I knew that the Internet could offer small businesses the chance to grow outside of what had been their boundaries for hundreds of years.
I don't think it was all that visionary on my part. I think it was just common sense that the Internet was not going to just die.
PeC: There is another thing that has changed since then. It costs more to drive around and shop now than it did. Does that bode well for online shopping?
Leffler: It does. But it's not just the energy costs, it is the sheer convenience. Once someone goes on line and buys a gift for someone, chooses to have it gift wrapped, has it shipped right to the person, and the whole process is quick, the gift arrives when it is supposed to, and the experience is satisfying, people will choose to do it whenever they can. The convenience factor, saving people time, is what is going to continue to drive the business. There is no question that energy costs cause people to want to drive less, but my guess is that it is going to be that convenience factor that drives the growth.
PeC: From the entrepreneur side—assuming the business has everything put together, good products, good website and shopping cart—what is the biggest challenge they need to overcome?
Leffler: The first challenge is to get visitors to your site. But after that, the biggest challenge is running an outstanding business with outstanding customer service. Customer service is more important on the Internet than most people think—possibly it is more important on the Internet than in a brick and mortar store. Customers are not as loyal online as they are elsewhere. For example, the majority of people wouldn't be able to tell you the name of the online store they bought something from yesterday without checking the email order confirmation notice. It is not a loyalty-based shopping experience—it is one based on price and convenience.
So the online store owner has to go the extra mile to deliver an outstanding experience. But that's not an easy thing to do. If you can, it is really going to give your business a boost. You're going to see a lot more repeat customers and some level of loyalty, which can be, for a lot of businesses, the catalyst that really drives them to success.
PeC: What do you think the elements of super online customer service are?
Leffler: Doing what you say you're going to do. For example, if you say you're going to have the product to them in two days, they better have the product in two days. Answering the phone when somebody calls. Having a toll-free number posted clearly on the site. Make sure your customers know you are willing and able to take calls during normal business hours. A lot of people think they can start an online store and not man that store—they think everything is automatic. From my perspective you have to treat this business just like the brick and mortar business. There has to be someone there to help the customers through the process if they need it or want it.
PeC: Perhaps there is a bit too much hype from the promoters of get rich quick schemes telling people they can make tons of money in their pajamas?
Leffler: Absolutely. There is no way you are going to get rich on the Internet without putting the same amount of time, money, and commitment as you would in any other business. There is nothing magic about the Internet. You need solid business principles and a lot of hard work, and a lot of time. There have been a lot of hype and infomercials that make it seem like it is easy. In fact, I see, in our industry, advertising that you can set up a store in five minutes and get rich, and that just gives me a good laugh, because it is the furthest thing from the truth that I can imagine.
PeC: So, where did the name
Commerce come from?
Leffler: WebsiteMonster was an okay name, but we didn't feel like it really said we were an eCommerce company, which we are and will be forever. But we liked the
part and we wanted to show people we were a commerce company so we put
and Commerce together. The gentlemen who owned the domain name at the time was willing to sell and so here we are.
PeC: So what does the future hold for
Commerce?
Leffler: From a software standpoint, we are constantly interested in improving our software to get the best conversion rate for our clients. What I mean by that is, a lot of people focus on traffic. So, if I have a 100 visitors coming to my site today and five of them buy that is actually pretty good. But if I can get seven of them to buy, which is like adding 50% more traffic. So, in our software we have the ability to affect those conversion rates across the board.
We have two goals, to save our clients time and to make them more money. So we are either adding administrative functions to save them time or improving the front end of the shopping experience to make them more money. Our next release is coming out in October and in this one we have made it so that the client can completely customize the checkout area.
In addition , MonsterMarketplace.Com is our shopping portal. On any given day we get about 300,000 unique shoppers to that site driving a ton of sales for our merchants. We intend to continue to grow that portal.
PeC: MonsterCommerce is growing pretty fast. You're at about 5000 ecommerce stores online?
Leffler: Actually it's closer to 5500 right now.
PeC: Your growth rate must be tremendous.
Leffler: About 100 percent this year.
Stephanie Leffler is the CEO of
Commerce a full service company providing integrated web hosting, marketing, shopping cart and other eCommerce software solutions for small and medium-sized eCommerce companies worldwide. The headquarters is located in Belleville, Illinois, about 10 minutes from central St. Louis, MO. The provides. Visit the company at www.monstercommerce.com
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