Great Circle Machinery has always sold its heavy-duty tools and equipment directly to consumers on its own ecommerce site, GreatCircleUS.com, but in the past it struggled to find the resources and solutions necessary to drive traffic and process and fulfill orders. That’s why the business has historically focused its sales on Amazon—in fact, 99% of sales came from Amazon.com. In addition to handling the traffic and fulfillment pieces, selling on Amazon.com gives Great Circle greater scale and visibility in an industry of big-name brands and an opportunity to reach an underserved category of everyday shoppers looking to purchase equipment in an industry that generally caters to professionals.
The challenge of selling heavy-duty tools online
With a rise in DIY projects over recent years, however, Great Circle wanted to invest more in its site as an additional sales channel to reach more shoppers. Purchasing heavy-duty equipment can be daunting for the average consumer, with the industry’s niche items and high price points. So the team at Great Circle decided to use its website, including educational information and demos, to help break down barriers and make the space more accessible and inviting.
For an industrial equipment company, with products that are bulky and often weigh hundreds of pounds, such as wood chippers and utility wagons, it was difficult for Great Circle to keep up with shopper expectations.
Building customer trust
Great Circle turned to Buy with Prime to help simplify fulfillment and attract shoppers. Using the Buy with Prime marketing toolkit, Great Circle can include Buy with Prime branding on its own marketing and advertising to signal to Prime members that they can get the trusted shopping experience they expect from Amazon directly on Great Circle’s site. Orders on eligible products are processed automatically and fulfilled by Amazon, giving the Great Circle team more time to focus on other areas of the business while still giving customers the high-quality shopping experience the company strives for.