A handful of years ago, Clay Imports faced the same uncertainty as many small brick-and-mortar shops. Pandemic-driven restrictions threatened the viability of its Texas-based tile store.
“That was incredibly discouraging,” says Nick, who bought the local Austin business with his brother, Zac, in 2012 and is the company’s CEO. “But at the same time, it gave us an incredible opportunity.”
That opportunity? Ecommerce.
Pivoting to Shopify and closing the physical store helped Clay Imports adapt and opened the gates to selling nationwide. Sales of its terracotta and hand-crafted tiles have grown so much that Nick aspires to open U.S. production facilities in addition to the current Mexican site.
How did he and his brother — both tile installers with no formal business pedigrees — transform a local store into a nationwide brand with a lean team? And how have they kept the personalized showroom experience intact when nearly everything happens online?
The short answer: Evolving business processes with an efficient mindset and the Shopify ecosystem. All while honoring a homegrown heritage of connecting its artisan and design community to consumers.
Seguno has played a significant, behind-the-scenes role in the company’s national growth. Seguno’s tools enable a delightful customer experience, from gaining trust during the evaluation period to fostering long-term customer satisfaction.
Reflecting brand aesthetics, from storefront to email
When Clay Imports decided ecommerce was the future, they scrapped an elementary WordPress site for Shopify. It was the perfect vehicle for representing their visual-heavy products.
Canan, Marketing and Partnerships lead, describes the site as an online showroom packed with information to help shoppers make decisions and guide customers after the purchase. It’s the company's hub, and all marketing efforts must reinforce its aesthetics.
After a while, it became clear that one vital marketing channel didn’t align.
“There was a disconnect between the beautiful website we created and the emails we sent out because they were pretty simple,” Canan says. “We were limited in terms of designs, graphics, etcetera.”
The mismatch between Shopify Email’s capabilities and the brand’s visual needs hampered the ability to serve its products justice. Clay Imports’ search for a new email marketing provider led to Seguno Email Marketing.
Canan likes its user-friendly interface, speedy customer support, and subscriber-based pricing. However, Seguno’s design component — an integration with Canva — was the solution to amplify products. The design platform was already a vital tool used across the company.
“Everything was right there in Shopify,” Canan says. “We didn't have to open a new window or log in. Everything syncs.”
Seguno supports Clay Imports’ mission to provide usable information to homeowners and industry professionals, such as interior designers and contractors, about its sustainability-focused approach that merges traditional clay craftsmanship with modern technology. Email is often the portal to the brand’s blog content or YouTube videos.
“I want them to know what we're up to regularly. I want them to have access to information about us,” Nick says. “I always want our customers to feel like we are accessible.”
Increasing email-generated sales by 5x
Canan calls herself a “notorious unsubscriber” with little tolerance for irrelevant messages in her inbox. She only wants Clay Imports’ subscribers to receive relevant emails, too.
It’s rare for the brand to send one newsletter to all subscribers. Instead, a combination of segmentation and automations rule the playbook.
The strategy is paying off. Seguno's email sales revenue is 462% higher than Shopify's email-generated revenue over the same period. Email has also catapulted to second in sales channel performance, behind Google search.
Quadrupling orders with an abandoned checkout series
Automations drive 70% of Clay Imports’ email-generated revenue. Of that, an abandoned checkout series accounts for 40%.
“Every time I see a report on the sales for abandoned shopping carts, it makes me happy,” Nick says. “But it also freaks me out thinking that we could have lost those sales if we didn't send a follow-up email.”
Abandoned checkout recovery has vastly improved since the Shopify Email days. Orders have quadrupled and revenue is nine times higher with Seguno’s version.
What changed, aside from an aesthetic boost? First, it’s no longer a simple reminder of what was left behind. Investing in tiles is a big decision, so Clay Imports added information, a “behind-the-scenes” peek at tile production, a testimonial, and outlets for asking questions.
Second, the Seguno automation includes more chances to convert. The Shopify Email automation was a single email; now it’s a three-part series that tucks in a discount offer.
The adjustments have resulted in:
- High interest, as demonstrated through a series average open rate of 65% and click rate to the site of 7%
- An influx of new customers, with first-time purchases accounting for over 50% of recovered carts
- Extra content influencing sales, with subscribers who clicked on content within the series converting at a 25% rate
Empowering the sales team with efficiency-boosting tools
A business expansion like that of Clay Imports can’t happen without implementing efficiencies. Bit by bit, the brand has streamlined operations across the company, with a particular focus on the sales team.
Streamlining standard processes with automations
Clay Imports leaders recognized that automations could lessen workloads. The assignment of sales representatives to new trade program members emerged as one area for improvement. The previous process involved “a very labor-intensive email and introduction from our sales team,” Canan says. “But now, it's automated through a welcome email.”
Sales also spent 20% to 30% of its time answering customer phone calls and emails after the order. So, the company implemented:
- A new customer support department, which automated responses for common questions and is available to answer outliers
- Post-purchase emails built in Seguno, which cover installation instructions based on product
Interestingly, the post-purchase emails would also catalyze a new product line.
Pitching more tiles to homeowners after a purchase is nonsensical, Nick says. However, following up with sealant and cleaning recommendations is a natural way to stay connected, increase brand trust, and encourage repeat business.
Post-purchase emails “were incredibly relevant to people a year into using their kitchen backsplash or bathroom tile,” he says. “Those emails were so useful and read by customers that we replaced the conventional products we promoted and developed our own.”
Now, most of the company's “installation and maintenance” products fall under the Clay Imports label. The category grew 102% year over year, with 60% of sales attributed to returning customers.
Responding to consultation requests quicker
When Clay Imports was a brick-and-mortar shop, design consultations happened in person. The pandemic and subsequent move to ecommerce introduced video calls, which proved to be ineffective in providing design assistance.
Clay Imports has since switched to an online form that asks prospective customers to define their goals, from project scope to color schemes and design styles.
Sales and Design lead Leah responds to every submission — about 20 consultation requests weekly — with personalized suggestions through a mood board collage created in Canva. She visualizes prospects’ dreams by assembling tile product images, color palettes, and layout options.
Seguno’s Shopify Connect for Canva is revolutionizing her workflow and freeing up time for the creative juices the job requires.
Leah previously bounced between countless tabs, browsing the Clay Imports site for products to grab screenshots. There was a lot of copying, pasting, and cropping of images.
Shopify Connect for Canva eliminates all that by providing direct access to product photos within Canva. She estimates the app has cut her efforts in half.
“I absolutely love using Shopify Connect,” she says. “I just type in the product I want to find, and there it is. I simply drag the photo onto the mood board, and it's there for me to edit. It’s very easy to use.”
Speed matters in an industry where customers explore multiple options and operate on tight timelines.
“They don't want to wait around for a consultation response, and I don't blame them,” Leah says. The app “helps me pump out these mood boards super fast. That way, I can send them off and hopefully give that customer time to think and place an order on their time.”
Reimagining the sample order experience
When ecommerce extinguished the traditional showroom experience, Clay Imports had to adapt. Providing product samples is critical to the customer decision-making process.
Their sample system overhaul is working. Approximately one out of four sample order customers make a tile purchase.
The first step was revamping the Austin sample warehouse with a picking system that supports more than 3,000 SKUs. Next came refining sample packages — a constant work in progress as the team strives to make recipients feel special and represent itself as a reputable company.
“In many cases, that package is the first physical contact our company has had with that customer. Even though it's not our first communication, in many ways it makes a very strong impression,” Nick says.
They recently added Canva-printed postcard inserts to the sample boxes. Designed with the aid of Shopify Connect for Canva, the card alerts recipients to the handcrafted nature of tiles and variation nuances.
Last, the sample order process concludes with a Seguno automated email of step-by-step instructions for evaluating the samples, product reminders, and a means for reaching expert consultants.
Supporting an operationally lean mentality
Efficiency is critical to all Clay Imports operations, from reaching customers via email to making a great impression with a sample order and follow-up.
Nick takes pride in the business's efficiency as the sales footprint expands. Productivity with minimal waste has come a long way, and he aims to supercharge it even further by equipping his team to propel the company forward.
“Whether that's updating inventory or product images, or even website product descriptions,” he says, “I want a versatile team that has access to tools that are manageable enough for them to operate without being a specialist.”