The Next Few Years Will Be Hard for Ecommerce Brands, Here’s How Nate Kennedy is Setting Horizon Hobby Up To Meet the Challenge

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard that ecommerce has had a bit of a boom in the last couple of years. But does that mean a bust just around the corner? Some people think so. And even if the industry doesn’t see a full implosion, there will certainly be rumbles and challenges every brand will have to deal with. Some of the inflated demand will fall away, and more and more competition will continue to creep in. Nate Kennedy has a plan to face the turbulent times ahead, and he broke them down for me on this episode of Up Next in Commerce. Nate is the VP of Global eCommerce and Customer Experience at Horizon Hobby, which is a corporation that manufactures and sells high-end, hobby-grade radio-controlled cars, planes, boats, and accessories. In the last few years, Horizon Hobby has re-platformed, invested in paid media, and saw the value of influencers. So what’s next? Tune in to find out!

Main Takeaways:

• Start Small: Going all-in on an idea you believe in might be exciting, but it can also be a big mistake. You have to test your ideas before investing time and resources into a tool, channel, or product that you believe will be a big hit. The customer will be the truth-teller, and you have to get their feedback before you make any big moves.
• Turbulence Ahead: COVID created some artificial momentum for ecommerce and buoyed growth for a while. In the next two years, brands will have to create their own momentum and build demand for their products amid much more competition.
• Bring Customers To You: The way to stand out is to be different — everyone knows that. But in practice, that means experimenting with your programs, your events, and your customer loyalty offerings to see where you can actually build an experience that will propel you beyond just selling products and into a place where you can become a lifestyle brand customers keep coming back to.

For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.

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For a full transcript of this interview, click here.