Case Study: RotopaX
Surmount D2C growth challenges for a dealer-centered business
Challenge
Shift from manufacturer mindset to D2C brand
Any off-road adventurer will recognize RotopaX’s mountable fuel containers – they’re a staple on the trail. After years of selling through retailers, the company launched a Shopify website for a direct-to-consumer push. However, the road to e-commerce growth was rocky – fraught with price-slashing dealers and site conversion issues. Quiet Owl persisted alongside the RotopaX team to prove digital marketing could unlock profitable growth.
Scope & Goals
Improve website buying journey, overcome non-compliant MAP dealers, achieve growth with a small ad budget.
Site conversion: Explain a technical product for non-enthusiasts
RotopaX was accustomed to strong conversion rates on its old website. Most visitors were loyal customers who already knew how to mount RotopaX containers. Despite a sleek new site, conversion rates dropped sharply when RotopaX began advertising to a wider audience who wasn’t familiar with the product.
Our Solution
Quiet Owl ran user tests to show how real prospects struggled to understand the website. Sure enough, this produced multiple ‘aha’ moments: participants were confused about which mounting parts are included/required, whether RotopaX was compatible with their vehicle setup, and wanted more instructional videos about where and how to mount the containers. Quiet Owl researched and wireframed a new product page template which successfully addressed these educational gaps.
Key Benefits
- Direct feedback from real customers
- Pinpoint website information gaps
- New product page template
Website conversion II: Prove uplift of free shipping
After launching paid search and social campaigns, site visitors increased 30%. Yet even with this extra traffic, revenue initially declined year-over-year. Add-to-cart rates remained steady, but Quiet Owl noticed a big drop-off between cart and checkout – and hypothesized shipping costs were mostly to blame.
Our Solution
RotopaX charged shipping fees for years. But online shoppers had grown to expect free shipping, at least for purchases over a certain amount. RotopaX wasn’t sure where to set the threshold and didn’t want to give away unnecessary margin. Quiet Owl ran multiple shipping A/B tests to find the right balance, and ultimately concluded free shipping on all orders was the optimum approach.
Key Benefits
- Data to optimize free shipping threshold
- 32% improvement in cart > purchase rate
- 22% conversion rate increase
Growth strategy: Cut off dealers who undercut MAP
Since RotopaX had rarely advertised online before, it expected some easy early wins that never materialized. While looking for the cause of sluggish performance, Quiet Owl realized multiple dealers undercut RotopaX on Amazon – no wonder people chose to buy there instead.
Our Solution
RotopaX re-evaluated its dealer roster and pruned those who didn’t adhere to minimum advertised price (MAP) policy. However, this also meant taking an immediate revenue hit. Fortunately, the dip was largely offset by increasing D2C retail sales and capturing a bigger slice on Amazon through non-brand sponsored product campaigns.
Key Benefits
- Eliminate non-compliant MAP dealers
- Level playing field for rotopax.com & legit dealers
Results
In 2 years, Quiet Owl helped RotopaX reverse post-COVID decline to grow Shopify and Amazon revenue while holding overall marketing efficiency steady.
26%
Shopify revenue growth (YoY)
137%
Amazon revenue growth (YoY)
Client Approved
“While it’s been a challenging transition, Quiet Owl helped us lay the foundation for sustainable e-commerce growth. We’re excited for what the future holds together.”
Hunter Wallin | General Manager
