Nestled in the picturesque town of Kannur, Kerala, Thread Shop—created by a talented couple—is a haven for craft enthusiasts. Discover how Muhammed Riyaz and his wife, Zeenath Ibrahim, transformed their small local store into a national brand with the help of Zoho Commerce.
The company
Riyaz and Zeenath had always been passionate about crafts. "We started with a small shop in our local town, selling tailoring and embroidery materials," Riyaz recalled. Zeenath, an avid crocheter, often struggled to find the right colors and threads for her projects. This challenge sparked an idea.
"We identified a demand in the market for high-quality thread and craft supplies," said Riyaz. In December 2018, Thread Shop was born, starting as a humble physical store.
The challenge
With the rise of social media, Riyaz and Zeenath took to Instagram and Facebook to promote their business, and it gradually gained traction. As the business grew, so did the challenges.
Managing a product catalog, marketing it, engaging with customers, handling payments and shipments, and tracking stock were all done manually. It proved to be extremely time consuming for them.
"During the COVID-19 lockdown, we received numerous inquiries and orders through WhatsApp," Riyaz recalled. "It was challenging to manage orders and keep up with the demand."
Moreover, as their shop gained more popularity, they discovered the potential of their business and aimed to reach a wider audience.
The way forward was clear. They needed an ecommerce platform. This would not only streamline their operations but also help them realize their business's potential.
The solution
A friend who is a Zoho Books partner introduced Riyaz and Zeenath to Zoho Commerce, and they were impressed by the tight integration between both apps. They were even more pleased with the customer support they received.
"The Zoho Commerce team helped me design and build our store's main page; we love their support!" exclaimed Riyaz.
The integrations with Google and Facebook streamlined their marketing efforts, allowing them to focus on what they do best—providing high-quality craft supplies.
Initially starting with fewer products, they've now expanded their inventory to over 4,800 SKUs and are still growing. Today, Zeenath handles research and sourcing of the right materials, while Riyaz manages the store setup, finances, advertising, and other administrative duties.
"Venturing into ecommerce allowed us to reach a wider audience across India," he said.
With detailed color codes for each product on their website, Thread Shop overcame the challenge of selling tactile products online.
The results
Since adopting Zoho Commerce, Thread Shop has seen remarkable growth. With the platform streamlining their entire ecommerce operations from order processing to delivery and automatically syncing orders to Zoho Books for accounting, Riyaz and Zeenath are now saving a lot of time compared to when they were handling orders through WhatsApp in their physical store.
"With Zoho Commerce, our business has grown seven times, and our monthly orders have soared by 603%," Riyaz proudly stated. Their online store now accounts for 95% of their total revenue.
What started with just Riyaz and Zeenath has now expanded to a team of six dedicated members. This year, Thread Shop is all set to become an eight-figure business.
"Zoho Commerce makes business easier," Riyaz summed up.
Looking ahead
Thread Shop is not resting on its laurels. They have ambitious plans for the future, including transitioning from a proprietorship to an LLP and moving into the international market soon. They recently launched their own brand of threads and craft materials, Zuchi, and are aiming to focus more on its production.
"The future looks promising, and with Zoho Commerce, we are confident in our continued success," concluded Riyaz.
Click here to check out their website.