Bondi Scrubs stocks to 72 retailers Australia-wide including City Beach and General Pants. See what this iconic online brand did to land success and conserve thousands of dollars in a rebrand with Bartercard.
Bartercard member Glen Naughton was thrown a major curve ball in life. But instead of quitting, he bought two brands, built them up online through Bartercard and today stocks to 72 retailers Australia-wide including City Beach and General Pants. His labels Bondi Scrubs and Naturlea are expanding their online reach every day and breaking out of the Australian market.
Glen was a tiler with a successful business and 23 staff when he received a diagnosis of heart disease at 47.
It wasn’t the only blow his family had – several years earlier his partner Lorraine developed breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy.
“When you receive news like this, your priorities change drastically – at least they did for us,” said Glen.
“It was a pretty rough time and we knew things had to shift.”
Glen started looking for a business that allowed him and his partner to slow down, work from home and reduce stress.
They found two online health businesses for sale on Gumtree – coffee-based body exfoliant brand Bondi Scrubs and Naturlea, a range of essential oil-based products.
“Both businesses were run down, so we bought them and turned to Bartercard to build them up,” he said.
Glen had used Bartercard in his tiling business for the last 14 years where he traded his services through the cashless exchange.
“Bartercard had always been supportive of my business and I’d accumulated a considerable amount of trade dollars from Bartercard jobs.
“So we started searching Bartercard’s cashless marketplace for the services we needed.
Growing the brands with Bartercard
Glen quickly turned to rebranding and relaunching both businesses online. He covered the design work, new websites and SEO to boost ranking in Google with his trade dollars, conserving thousands of dollars in cash.
“We also created a custom online plug-in so Bartercard members can order directly from us using their trade dollars,” he said.
“This extra detail really makes a difference to customer service and reviews. If it wasn’t for Bartercard, we wouldn’t have rankings we do. We just couldn’t afford that in the cash economy.”
Glen said he puts the trade dollars from Bartercard sales straight back into the business through SEO and social media marketing.
Landing shelf space at stockists Australia-wide
While Glen’s businesses are purely e-commerce he said Bartercard has created brand exposure in a competitive market leading to positive reviews and cash business. But part of his success was recently securing shelf space at General Pants in their Sydney-based George Street store.
“A friend of a friend knows the purchasing manager at General Pants and put me in touch,” he said.
“General Pants were looking to stock their gift section and saw Bondi Scrubs as a good fit. City Beach was already a customer when we bought the business on Gumtree and their customers purchase our products through 61 City Beach stores around Australia. Many have turned into customers who buy Bondi Scrubs and Naturlea directly from us online.”
Standing out in a competitive market
In a digital landscape where everything is outsourced overseas and prices are continually driven down, local, organic and high quality is a trend which continues to bubble up.
“Customers are becoming more aware of their health and there is real growth in the essential oil industry,” said Glen.
“We’ve become a licensed certified organic business and are gradually transitioning both brands to fully organic which will give us an edge over our competitors.
“In a market where quick ingredients are the standard, many health conscious customers are wanting 100% organic which is key to standing out.”
Brighter days
Glen and Lorrain’s health problems are 100% behind them and they continue to juggle the online brands with nursing and Glen’s tiling business. They recently tied the knot after almost a decade together and while putting their focus on enjoying life, their new business ventures take a lot of focus and dedication.
“We are very involved in all aspects of the business – from development and sales to the production, packaging and postage,” said Glen.
“We would love to find someone in marketing who could help us take the businesses to the next level but it would have to be through Bartercard of course!”
What Glen sourced on Bartercard
- New brand and packaging
- New websites with custom-made plug-ins
- Continual SEO to boost rankings in Google
Bondi Scrubs
Scrubs that slow you down, allow you to inhale the goodness of nature and are truly free of synthetics and misleading consumer claims. Natural, organic and Australian-made focuses on 100% quality ingredients. The coffee in every scrub, for example, is the same quality of coffee you drink in the morning in your local cafe. Bondi Scrubs was created so you can do your little piece for planet Earth and your body. Give back to the body that’s taken care of you! bondiscrubs.com.au
Naturlea
Beautiful aromatherapy for the mind, body and soul. Naturlea Earth Aromatics was created in response to a growing demand for quality natural products and essential oils.
naturlea.com.au
