Choosing an eCommerce Platform for Your Juice Business
This is a follow-up to our previous article How to Sell Juice Online via eCommerce. Setting up an eCommerce site for your juice company may seem daunting or downright scary if you don’t have experience in doing business on the internet. The good news is that it’s 2019, and doing business online now is far easier than it was a a decade ago, or even a few years ago for that matter. An eCommerce platform, also referred to as an eCommerce CMS (content management system), will allow you to get selling online without building a website from scratch with code. Choosing an eCommerce Platform One of the most important decisions you need to make is which platform to choose to start your eCommerce site. There are two we’re going to compare: WooCommerce and Shopify. WooCommerce and Shopify These are the eCommerce platforms that most small business owners use. They are intentionally made to need minimal customization and have full control via a content management system (CMS) that is easy to use for most users. Both can be customized to feel like a branded, integrated experience for your customers. WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, which many small businesses use to host their website. Shopify is also a plugin for WordPress, but can be used on its own as a standalone application. In my experience When I was evaluating eCommerce solutions for Goodnature back in 2013, these were the two I was looking at. At the time, both WooCommerce and Shopify were about equal in functionality and features. I ended up going with WooCommerce, which has worked well for us. Since then, however, Shopify has made substantial investments in their software and in my opinion has taken the lead for being the right choice for small businesses. Why Shopify Shopify easily integrates with most of the other cloud based software you might be using in your business, and there are great resources available online offering plenty of self-help. You will likely need to customize the theme (the way it looks), and there are plenty of skilled developers available that can help with this as well. The best part is that Shopify will only cost you $29 – $299 per month depending on how many staff users and which features you need. Pro Tip: There is some great inventory and order management software specific for juice companies coming as a plugin app for Shopify in 2019. Shizu Okusa of JRINK / Wellthy & Co. gave a presentation about it at JuiceCon this year.
How to Sell Juice Online via eCommerce
This is a guest post by Shizu Okusa, founder and CEO of Wellthy & Co., a boutique of wellness brands JRINK (liquid convenience), and Apothékary (the farmacy of the future). Be sure to watch her speech from from JuiceCon 2018 on the same topic and more. Discuss on the Goodnature Juicing Facebook Group. Why Sell Juice Online If you’re currently selling juice in your own stores, or in others in the case of HPP brands, it’s absolutely critical to be thinking about online as a new sales channel. With almost every industry getting “Amazon’d”, why should customers come to your store or order from you directly? It’s about brand, customer retention and a seamless omni-channel experience. Now when we talk about online, we’re not talking sales via DoorDash or UberEATS but rather your own direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) channels. With DTC, companies are able to speak, engage, and commerce directly with their customers meaning margins are higher, lifetime values (“LTV”) are longer, and most importantly as entrepreneurs you have control. Not only is DoorDash, etc. expensive in terms of commissions but they are an intermediary between you and your end customer. Thinking about building your own DTC channel? Here are some things to consider: 1. Your team should be omni-channel. Make sure your managers and retail staff are set up for success with the right technology, tools and answers for basic customer service questions. At the store level you’re familiar with everything going on in the store but with online, it’s a completely separate business. Being transparent about orders placed, ETA of drivers, etc will be critical for businesses looking to offer customers a full omni-channel experience. 2. Don’t try to do everything yourself. It’s tempting to want to save costs and do everything yourself but in this case, think about the value of your time and comparative advantage of hiring or outsourcing the following: the last mile delivery (ie the actual delivery of orders from your kitchen to the customer house), developing the website, ads for paid acquisition, producing the juice. Thanks to Google and rich communities like the one Goodnature has created, ask for help! It’ll save you time and money to lean on others, especially in white space opportunities of selling juice digitally. 3. Familiarize yourself with the basics of a marketing funnel. When you have a brick & mortar shop, you might not have to think about a marketing funnel but in the case of bricks & clicks, you will. How are you doing lead generation? What are you doing to spread brand awareness? Where are you getting customer emails? What content are you sharing that customers want to do read and will engage with? A few questions to think about. 4. Invest in your supply chain. Nothing is worse than pulling online orders from your store and having nothing left on the shelves for those coming into the shop. Forecasting PARS, taking inventory, knowing what to produce while minimizing spoilage, automating dispatch, etc are all integral parts of omni-channel operations. For those looking to offer online delivery in a more meaningful way, feel free to reach out to me at Shizu@jrink.com and stay tuned for the debut of an omni-channel app coming soon! Note: This How to Write a Juice Business Plan PDF is a step-by-step guide to helping you write a business plan for your juice business. Download it for free!
Selling Juice Through Multiple Distribution Channels – Shizu Okusa at JuiceCon (video)
Shizu came from venture capital and began focusing on health and wellness, starting JRINK juicery and later Apothekary. Her companies sell through multiple distribution channels including retail, ecommerce, and wholesale. At JuiceCon 2018 she walked us through how she manages her omni-channel businesses.
Scaling a Beverage Business Speech - Daina Trout at JuiceCon (video)
Daina and her husband Justin started a small kombucha company out of their home, and a few years later have grown it to be a nationally recognized brand with their product being sold in over 12,000 stores nation-wide. Daina told the Health-Ade story at JuiceCon 2018, and took us through her company’s growth and what to expect as a beverage company while growing so quickly.
Thirty Years of Juice Speech – Jimmy Rosenberg at JuiceCon (video)
Jimmy has been in the industry since before it was cool. He is a serial juice entrepreneur and has successfully built two juice brands (Naked, Evolution Fresh) that have been acquired by national food and beverage companies. Hear about the history of juice and Jimmy’s vision for where it’s going.
JuiceCon Opening Keynote Speech - Charlie Wettlaufer (video)
This first JuiceCon video is my opening keynote speech where I go into the history of juicing, Goodnature, and the future of the industry.
Juicing Podcast – Chris Goode
New Juice Business Podcast is now live! This is my first attempt at recording a podcast on video. Hope you enjoy! Watch on YouTube Listen on Apple Podcasts Chris Goode is the founder and CEO of Ruby Jean’s Juicery in Kansas City, and has been working hard at teaching people in his area about proper nutrition and living a long and fruitful life. In this episode of the Cold Pressed Truth, we discussed the struggles of being a new entrepreneur, how to start a juice business, and how to have a good message behind your brand. With Chris being on day 28 of a 31 day juice cleanse, we also discuss how he prepared for the fast and how to stay motivated during an extended juice cleanse. Have questions for Chris or myself? Join the discussion at the Goodnature Juicing Facebook Group!
Festive Holiday Nogg Recipe by JK Juices
When I saw a photo of JK Juices’ Holiday Nogg on Instagram, I just knew I needed to get the recipe and share it with our fellow juicers! Love the label by the way, ladies. Nice job! This velvety, vegan and dairy-free take on the traditional holiday eggnog is made with almond and cashew nut mylk. It is full of omega 3s and healthy fats and is sure to put your customers in a festive mood! Yields about 40 oz. Print Recipe Ingredients:
New Juicing Podcast - Cold Pressed Truth
Today I’m announcing my new podcast Cold Pressed Truth, a podcast where I interview juice entrepreneurs and other professionals in the industry. This is the first ever podcast for juicing professionals. I hope to record one per month, but I really don’t know how many or how often I will be doing this. I do however, know that I have some super interesting people lined up for future interviews already. In this first episode I spend over an hour talking juice business with Goodnature’s chef and juice consultant Ari Sexner. He’s also the author of the new book The Juicing Companion, an idea book to help you create unique recipes.
Best Juice Bars and Cleanses in Los Angeles
When you think of Los Angeles, what comes to your mind? For us, it’s movies, celebrities, local food, art, and of course fresh juice! Regardless if you’ve lived in Los Angeles your whole life or if you’re just visiting, you will find a ton of amazing juice shops and cafes in this city. If you’re looking for a the best juice shops, juice bars, and juice cleanses around LA, this is a great place to start your search! Best Juice Bars in Los Angeles Beverly Hills Juice 8382 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA Beverly Hills Juice has been a staple in the LA community for over forty years. Photo via Yelp In 1975, David Otto decided to open his doors to the Los Angeles public to share his juicing creations. With a handful of cold-pressed juice options along with unique smoothies options, Beverly Hills Juice seems like a historic and perfect place to visit while you’re in the Beverly Hills area. Enjoy one of their Banana Manna shakes that are blended with your choice of fresh juice, frozen bananas, almonds or sunflower seeds creating a smooth and delicious shake! The Punchbowl 4645 Melbourne Ave, Los Angeles, CA The Punchbowl is a quaint, small pressed juicery that’s hidden between Vermont and Melbourne Ave. They offer an array of fresh juices, wellness shots, smoothies, milk, vegan goodies, and more! All of their ingredients are 100% organic, raw, and vegan. Next time you’re on Melbourne Ave, stop into The Punchbowl for a unique treat. Their version of a Turmeric Wellness Shot sounds amazing right about now.
Cold-Pressed Salad Dressing Recipes for the Seasons
Try these flavorful salad dressings made from cold pressed juice! As promised during my Create Amazing Recipes workshop at JuiceCon, here are the salad dressing recipes I created that highlight seasonal ingredients.
What I Learned at JuiceCon
What an amazing time we all had this past weekend at JuiceCon. I am truly touched about how much positivity there is in our community, and how many kind, caring people we managed to bring together into one place. The only sad part is that we have to wait a whole a year to do it again. 😢 Couldn’t make JuiceCon this year? You can Pre-register for 2019 now. Location and event details have not yet been determined. There was a ton of valuable knowledge shared in the main speaker room and in the workshop room, and the list of takeaways would be too long to put into this article. We will be sharing videos of the main room presentations in the coming weeks, and I will be following up with some of the speakers and attendees to write more in-depth articles on some of the topics discussed at the event. More important than the technical knowledge, however, is the bigger lesson I learned. The entrepreneurs involved in our industry are different. Yes, you may have started a juice company to make money, but let’s be honest— there are much easier ways to make money than to be a juice maker. The juicing business is hard. We aren’t selling flavored water that can sit on a shelf for six months without refrigeration. We aren’t selling toxic processed food that is making our world sick.