How DeckMart’s online business took off after starting their store on Zoho
"When it comes to website design and layout, Zoho Commerce makes our work easy. For example, we didn’t have a mega menu, so we asked the team at Zoho to enable it for us. And it happened in no time.”
- Aram Piruzyan
Co-Founder and Director, DeckMart
The Company
DeckMart, founded in 2015 and based in Ontario, Canada, is a building-supplies business. Their showroom in Vaughan, a small city just north of Toronto, allows customers to view displays and fully-constructed decks.
Current industry trends indicate a promising road ahead for businesses like DeckMart. In 2019, the global Construction and Building Materials Market size was estimated at $916.31 billion USD. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.76%, reaching $1,282.56 billion USD by 2025. DeckMart, whose main product line consists of composite and PVC decking material, is poised for success when people gradually switch from natural wood to replacement materials. “It is a growing market, and we felt we should be a part of it,” says Aram Piruzyan, Co-founder and Director.
The Challenge
DeckMart was using another accounting solution when they came across Zoho Books. To their delight, they found Zoho Books to be much more flexible than other products on the market.
“Four years back, we had many requirements which other platforms couldn’t fulfill," Aram says. "We began using many of the products of Zoho, which we realized was a fast and growing brand. We started with Zoho Books and then moved on to Zoho Inventory."
Then they began using Zoho Commerce. "Our website ran on WordPress, and we were planning to start ecommerce as well," says Aram. "WordPress had various plugins for ecommerce, but we didn’t like them. We tried Shopify, and even that didn’t appeal to us. We were on the lookout for something special."
The Solution
Around January 2018, DeckMart was looking for an ecommerce site builder. "In a few months, we saw Zoho had launched Commerce," Aram explains. "It was still in its early stages and required some work at that point, but since we were Zoho users and knew Zoho was faster in updates and upgrades than other applications, we chose it. We found Zoho Commerce to be convenient and had no problems with the system. And since we had already used Books and Inventory, we didn’t find any issue with the switch. Plus, since we were using Zoho Books, we already had our products in the database. We simply had to activate the products to make them appear on the website, then add some images and descriptions."
Benefits and ROI
Aram believes that extensive product knowledge is essential to maintaining the website, and for this reason, DeckMart likes to be more hands-on when it comes to their site maintenance. “This is one task we choose not to outsource, as we want to maintain the quality of information that goes out to our customers," notes Aram. "Currently, DeckMart sells products from around 15-20 brands. It can be a tad time-consuming, and new ideas keep coming all the time. You need to keep everything in place and in order. In that sense, I feel that maintaining an online store is similar to running a physical store.”
The technology available has helped DeckMart showcase their work to the world exactly how they want. “When it comes to website design and layout, Zoho Commerce makes our work easy," Aram says. "For example, we didn’t have a mega menu, so we asked the team at Zoho to enable it for us. And it happened in no time.”
Aram recognizes that research is essential to stay ahead of the competition, and DeckMart keeps itself abreast of trends in the market. "The world is changing,” he notes. “We found out that the internet market is big. A ready-made website saves us time, as otherwise, we would’ve had to do all this work ourselves.” After entering the online game, DeckMart’s business has continued to evolve to change with the trends. “Today, even for large deliveries, we are getting the orders online,” reports Aram. “This market is growing. Not long ago, around 80 percent of our business was offline, and we also had customers placing orders on the phone. Our online business took off with Zoho."
The last two years were unusual because of the pandemic. Online businesses grew worldwide, and DeckMart was no exception. “As the lockdown was lifted, people began visiting the physical store again,” says Aram. “But from what I have seen, the ups and downs we face have been related to the changes in the construction industry more than those of the pandemic.”
Looking Forward
DeckMart continues to invest in traditional advertising but also actively markets its products online. “Now people know us," Aram says. "The quality of our service creates repeat customers. They are mainly from Ontario, but thanks to the website, we now have customers in several other provinces of Canada."
Global trends also favor the use of composite materials. “This market is growing because wood is becoming more and more expensive, and people are also more conscious of saving trees," Aram says. "This market will continue to grow more in the future.”
DeckMart has managed to keep up with this growth and thrive. “Our company grew faster than the market,” notes Aram. “In the coming years, we plan to continue to expand. We want to be active in the siding market and the tools market.”
Aram has a final word for those who plan to enter this business: “It’s not an easy business, but you have to keep moving and growing. And remember, personal service is of utmost importance in this industry. It’s an expensive product for a buyer, and if there is a mistake, it can be costly for both the seller and the buyer. You can reduce costs and improve business with good customer service. And at DeckMart, customer service is our USP.”
You can learn more about DeckMart by visiting their online store.