The 19 Most Innovative Ecommerce Brands of 2018
Table of Contents
Think a net promoter score of 100 is impossible?
Andie Swim has it.
What about a 2,000% increase in conversions?
Bob Johnson’s built a tool for that.
Thinking of selling a single product each day at flash sale prices?
Silver Jewelry Club has you beat.
In fact, it’s likely that all of this year’s 19 most innovative ecommerce brands have your online channel activities beat in terms of impact on:
- Conversions
- Sales
- Customer Loyalty
- Customer Lifetime Value
- Time Saved
- Money Saved
- Revenue Increased
That’s because when we put out our second annual call for the most innovative brands around the world, we asked not just for what brands thought was innovative – but what actually resulted in a positive bottom line impact.
What we got back were hundreds of submissions from online brands building visionary developments that drive growth opportunities, solve business challenges and deliver outstanding customer experiences above and beyond traditional online retail.
And then, we partnered with the Who’s Who in the ecommerce industry to help us judge which of those hundreds of brands were pushing the limits of ecommerce the furthest, driving the industry toward new standards of online experience.
Those judges included:
- Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer at BigCommerce
- Jill Rose, North American senior director of mid-market at PayPal
- Michael Leff, vice president of technology at StoreYourBoard, the 2016 Innovation Award winner
- Noah Kagan, chief sumo at Sumo Group
- Bryan Eisenberg, keynote speaker and bestselling author
- Sujan Patel, co-founder of Web Profits
- Shane Barker, founder of ContentSolutions.io
- Drew Sanocki, founding partner at Empire Growth Group
- Ryan Deiss, CEO of DigitalMarketer
Together, these 9 judges sorted through each and every submission, parsing out the top 19 branded innovations. And from there, they chose 1 grand prize winner and 4 category winners.
These brands span the gamut of ecommerce verticals, proving no online experience is siloed from how modern consumers shop — no matter what they buy.
Those verticals include:
- Apparel & Jewelry
- Electronics
- Health & Beauty
- Sports & Outdoors
- Home & Garden
- Food & Beverage
- Arts & Crafts
- Automotive
- B2B
- Direct to Consumer
So, without further ado, here are the world’s 19 most innovative brands.
The World’s Most Innovative Ecommerce Brands
- SeriouslySillySocks
- Bob Johnson’s Computer Stuff
- Andie Swim
- Beer Cartel
- Autograph Foliage
- Berlitz
- Dutil.
- Flip Flop Shops
- Freund
- Glory Cycles
- Ironlak
- NaturallyCurly
- Neon Poodle
- Pruvit Gear
- Restaurantware
- Rollie Nation
- Sam’s Furniture
- Silver Jewelry Club
- Sorority Specialties
Below, we’ll outline what each of these brands has done so well in order to be awarded the status of World’s Most Innovative. We’ll also give you tips and tricks on how you can do the same for your brand.
Here we go.
1. SeriouslySillySocks: Personalization & pick, pack, ship simplification.
Why they won.
SeriouslySillySocks won the Innovation Awards Grand Prize of $10,000 and a fully paid trip to a retail conference of their choice.
For building a personalized Build-a-Box tool that simultaneously reduced pick, pack and ship time –– saving time while making money.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +50% increase in revenue
- Increase in staff productivity
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how SeriouslySillySocks implemented their innovation.
2. Bob Johnson’s Computer Stuff: Future-proofing on-site search.
Why they won.
Bob Johnson’s Computer Stuff won the Innovation Award for Customer Experience.
For the brand’s ability to “think like a customer” and enable tools that addressed specific pain points in the search experience.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- Overall conversion rate up 31%
- Conversion rate through funnel up 2,000%
- AOV up 2x the rate in 2016
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Bob Johnson’s implemented their innovation.
3. Andie Swim: Fixing a broken industry purchasing funnel for good.
Why they won.
Andie Swim won the Innovation Award for Product Innovation.
For creating a product experience that extends far beyond the product itself.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- 160% increase in traffic
- 2x increase in conversion rate
- Net Promoter score of 100
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Andie Swim implemented their innovation.
4. Beer Cartel: Content marketing for a 34% gain in sales.
Why they won.
Beer Cartel won the Innovation Award for Marketing Innovation.
For creating a content asset that drove thought leadership, revenue and customer loyalty.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- An increase in online revenue of $65,000, a 34% gain on the previous year.
- Site traffic grew over 100%, from 62,000 unique website visits in 2016 to 128,000 in 2017.
- Beer Cartel’s mailing list grew over 130%, from 13,000 subscribers in 2016 to 30,000 in 2017.
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Beer Cartel implemented their innovation.
5. Autograph Foliage: Migrating to a 40%+ in revenue.
Why they won.
Brand Labs won the Innovation Award for Agency Innovation for their work on Autograph Foliage.
For fast time to market during a shopping cart migration and a discounts and promotions engine implementation that drove an immediate 40% increase in revenue.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +70% increase in traffic
- +40% increase in revenue
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Autograph Foliage implemented their innovation.
6. Berlitz: Selling online courses to modern ecommerce shoppers.
Why they won.
iMedia was a finalist for the Innovation Award for Agency Innovation for their work on Berlitz.
For API integration across various systems allowing for streamlined UX and back office efficiency when selling online courses.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- Simplifying employee system usage from 2 to 1 via APIs
- Time saved for brand employees sans a hit to the customer experience on the front-end
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Berlitz implemented their innovation.
7. dutil.: Removing gender barriers from the online shopping experience.
Why they won.
dutil. was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For creative use of custom fields at the product level to fill industry and brand needs.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty thanks to online store functionality aligning with brand’s mission.
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how dutil. implemented their innovation.
8. Flip Flop Shops: Multi-store pick, pack, ship and in-store pickup.
Why they won.
Silk Software was a finalist for the Innovation Award for Agency Innovation for their work on Flip Flop Shops.
For bringing a franchise brand up-to-date online, using content and regional merchandising, shipping & store pickup to grow sales.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- Sales growth across all franchises, both on and offline.
- A single site and source of truth for all online sales
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Flip Flop Shops implemented their innovation.
9. Freund Container: B2B empowerment through RESTful APIs.
Why they won.
Freund Container was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For B2B enablement and empowerment complexity that works seamlessly across customer and employee touchpoints.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +80 points increase in conversion rate
- 26.5X increase in lead generation
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Freund Container implemented their innovation.
10. Glory Cycles: High-end product-level customization for an expert customer.
Why they won.
Glory Cycles was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For high-end customizations catering to an expert audience base.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- 47.22% increase in revenue
- 42.12% increase in orders
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Glory Cycles implemented their innovation.
11. Ironlak: Streamlining checkout complexity in a local hosting environment.
Why they won.
Ironlak was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For building a multiple product carting with a single add-to-cart one-click process.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +43.3% increase in orders
- +87.66% increase in revenue
- +260.53% increase in customers
- +99.88% increase in traffic
- +30.86% increase in AOV
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Ironlak implemented their innovation.
12. NaturallyCurly: Integrating data across EDI and API endpoints.
Why they won.
Arizon Digital was a finalist for the Innovation Award for Agency Innovation for their work on NaturallyCurly.
For ERP integration across EDI & API complexity, saving the team time and reducing data errors.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +49% increase in revenue
- +52% increase in customers
- +65% increase in orders
- +15% increase in staff productivity
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how NaturallyCurly implemented their innovation.
13. Neon Poodle: International expansion on steroids.
Why they won.
Neon Poodle was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For expanding to 3 continents in 18 months with a team of 2 (and a full-time job!).
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- 3 sites for selling to 3 different continents
- +232.14% increase in revenue
- +11.21% increase in conversion rate
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Neon Poodle implemented their innovation.
14. Pruvit Gear: Saving $1,000,000 annually while building out custom print-on-demand services.
Why they won.
SUCCESS PARTNERS was a finalist for the Innovation Award for Agency Innovation for their work on Pruvit Gear.
For print-on-demand product personalization generating millions in revenue.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- $1,000,000 saved annually by migrating from Magento to BigCommerce
- 312% increase in conversion rate
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Pruvit Gear implemented their innovation.
15. Restaurantware: B2B & B2C in a single dashboard.
Why they won.
Restaurantware was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For using design to solve for B2B and B2C needs with a single source of data truth.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +35.17% increase in revenue
- +186.39% increase in traffic
- +25.74% increase in conversion rate
- +33.56% increase in orders
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Restaurantware implemented their innovation.
16. Rollie Nation: Building innovation into the fabric of the brand (UX included).
Why they won.
Rollie Nation was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For building innovation into the fabric of the brand at every step of the customer experience.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +200% MoM revenue growth
- Launching international site (AU + US)
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Rollie Nation implemented their innovation.
17. Sam’s Furniture: Online furniture browsing and buying customers can’t get enough of.
Why they won.
Sam’s Furniture was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For bringing online furniture shopping and buying into the 21st century.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- 2X conversion rates
- Local award for best online furniture purchasing process
- ⅓ operating costs as previous platform
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Sam’s Furniture implemented their innovation.
18. Silver Jewelry Club: The newest flash sale site on the block.
Why they won.
Silver Jewelry Club was a finalist for the Innovation Awards.
For launching a custom flash sale site on SaaS, saving thousands in development costs.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- $1,000s saved with SaaS over custom development
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Silver Jewelry Club implemented their innovation.
19. Sorority Specialties: Catering to Gen Z’s ecommerce expectations.
Why they won.
Atmosol was a finalist for the Innovation Award for Agency Innovation for their work on Sorority Specialties.
For using APIs to cater to Gen Z online expectations.
Business outcomes of the innovation.
- +500% increase in conversions
- 25% decrease in bounce rate
- +200% increase in time spent on site
The Details Behind the Innovation
Dive in to the details of how Sorority Specialties implemented their innovation.
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