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InÌýtheÌý“Success Stories” section ofÌýtheÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ blog, weÌýpublish theÌýreal-life stories ofÌýbusiness owners who run their online stores with ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed. Here you can meet fellow entrepreneurs andÌýlearn first-hand how toÌýuse ºÚÁÏÃÅ toÌýmake aÌýthriving business.

Today weÌýwant toÌýintroduce Jordan Woolmer ofÌýTapered Roller Bearings. Jordan shares with usÌýhow heÌýadapted anÌýonline store toÌýtheÌýunique needs ofÌýhis business with theÌýhelp ofÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ customization services.

Read onÌýtoÌýfind out how heÌýsaved hundreds ofÌýhours ofÌýwork andÌýwhat tools Jordan recommends toÌýbusinesses with large catalogs.

Meet Tapered Roller Bearings

isÌýtheÌýleading online bearing specialist. The company works with major bearing andÌýpower transmission manufacturers from around theÌýworld.

Tapered Roller Bearings offers aÌýwide variety ofÌýproducts used inÌýindustries worldwide, from barstools, bakeries, andÌýchildren’s playground equipment toÌýprecision robotics, aircrafts, andÌýwind turbines. Their products are also commonly used inÌýrobotics, aerospace, andÌýradar systems.

The Challenges ofÌýBig Inventory

Tapered Roller Bearings currently has nearly 14Ìýthousand products inÌýits catalog, andÌýthat number isÌýincreasing. AtÌýtheÌýsame time, there are four team members behind their whole operation.

Given theÌýsize ofÌýtheÌýstore’s inventory, theÌýamount ofÌýtime needed toÌýupdate product details could take hours (if not days). Jordan Woolmer leads theÌýonline business andÌýdecided toÌýoptimize that process.

Saving Hundreds ofÌýHours ofÌýWork

ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed has aÌýspreadsheet-like tool that allows sellers toÌýupdate dozens ofÌýproducts atÌýonceÌý— Bulk Product Editor. This tool allows editing ofÌýstandard product details such asÌýname, stock, orÌýdescription quickly.

However, due toÌýtheÌýcompany’s niche, Tapered Roller Bearings has toÌýenter andÌýedit product details specific toÌýtheir business:

ÌýAÌýsingle range ofÌýproducts inÌýour store can have multiple characteristics, some shared with different part numbers, others not.ÌýJordan Woolmer

ToÌýupdate such details asÌýtheÌýinside andÌýoutside diameter ofÌýproducts, Jordan had toÌýedit theÌýinformation forÌýeach item one byÌýone:

When you have 14,000Ìýitems inÌýaÌýstore, editing products one byÌýone isÌýincredibly time-consuming. That’s why theÌýcompany reached out toÌýtheÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed customization team forÌýaÌýsolution.

The ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed customization team developed aÌýcustom import soÌýthat Jordan andÌýhis team could enter product information inÌýbulk inÌýaÌýCSV file andÌýthen upload itÌýtoÌýtheÌýonline store toÌýupdate product attributes.

ÌýThis solution has literally saved usÌýhundreds ofÌýhours andÌýisÌýnow part ofÌýour standard product import procedure. The system isÌývery easy toÌýuse andÌýisÌýworth its weight inÌýgold!ÌýJordan Woolmer

Since theÌýsolution significantly reduced theÌýtime needed toÌýupdate product information, Jordan decided they could benefit from other tools offered byÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed.

ÌýThis solution was offered toÌýusÌýwhen weÌýwere using ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed through aÌýthird-party platform. WeÌýwere soÌýimpressed that weÌýdecided toÌýmigrate our store directly toÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed.ÌýJordan Woolmer

AÌýSolution forÌýIndividually Priced Products

After theÌýsuccess ofÌýtheÌýcustom import tool, Jordan realized they can further customize their store toÌýfine-tune itÌýtoÌýtheir business needs.

Since some ofÌýtheir products need toÌýbeÌýpriced onÌýanÌýindividual basis, Jordan decided toÌýimplement aÌý“Request aÌýQuote” feature inÌýtheir online store.

Jordan wanted toÌýlist their individually-priced items asÌýzero-priced products which isÌýaÌýstandard occurrence inÌýtheir industry. HeÌýalso needed toÌýhide andÌýreplace some ofÌýtheÌýstandard buttons, allowing customers toÌýrequest aÌýquote rather than check out. ToÌýdoÌýthat, Jordan reached out toÌýtheÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed customization team.

ÌýThey have offered usÌýaÌýsolution forÌýour zero-priced items, implementing aÌýway toÌýhide theÌýprice, “Add toÌýbasket” andÌý“Buy Now” buttons, andÌýreplacing these with theÌý“Add toÌýQuote” system.ÌýJordan Woolmer

Customers are able toÌýadd individually-priced products toÌýtheÌýquote list andÌýrequest theÌýprice forÌýthose items from theÌýstore.

Now Tapered Roller Bearings doesn’t have toÌýhide individually-priced products from theÌýstorefront. Not only does that allows them toÌýdisplay their whole product range, but itÌýalso plays aÌýrole inÌýtheir store’s SEO:

ÌýThis also allows our products toÌýbeÌýindexed andÌýschema applied, soÌýGoogle can still list usÌýinÌýsearch engine results pages.ÌýJordan Woolmer

AÌýSearch forÌýProducts byÌýDimensions

The custom import tool andÌýtheÌý“Request aÌýquote” feature weren’t theÌýonly ways Tapered Roller Bearings customized their store.

Jordan decided toÌýmake itÌýeven more convenient forÌýcustomers. His idea was toÌýallow customers toÌýsearch forÌýbearings byÌýdimensionsÌý— perfect forÌýtheir type ofÌýbusiness.

Again, Jordan reached out toÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed toÌýdevelop aÌýcustom search byÌýdimensions. The result suited their business perfectly.

ÌýThis allows customers toÌýinput aÌýmaximum ofÌýthree separate dimensions into aÌýcustom search field. This again isÌýaÌýgreat feature forÌýaÌýstore that has aÌýlarge catalog ofÌýproducts with aÌýmultitude ofÌýdifferent attributes.ÌýJordan Woolmer

Given theÌýsuccess ofÌýtheÌýdeveloped tools andÌýtheÌýgrowth ofÌýtheÌýTapered Roller Bearings store, Jordan believes that they will need toÌýcontinue custom developing their online store.

ÌýThe ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed customization team isÌýawesome andÌýweÌýcan’t thank them enough forÌýtheir support. We’re certain that weÌýwill continue toÌýhave them develop custom solutions forÌýour ever-expanding store.ÌýJordan Woolmer

Helpful Tools forÌýStores with aÌýBig Catalog

Since Jordan knows how toÌýrun anÌýonline store with aÌýlarge catalog, we’ve asked him toÌýrecommend useful tools toÌýfellow owners ofÌýbig inventory stores.

ÌýAny store with aÌýlarge catalog must give ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed aÌýtry. Importing products with CSV files isÌývery simple, enabling users toÌýupload thousands ofÌýproducts atÌýonce. The image upload isÌýalso very simple andÌýyou can add multiple product images across all products inÌýbulk.ÌýJordan Woolmer

Apart from importing aÌýproduct catalog via theÌýCSV file, you can use theÌý tool toÌýupload product pictures inÌýbulk toÌýsave time. You can upload pictures forÌýseveral products atÌýonce with theÌýsame spreadsheet-like tool:

Jordan also finds theÌýCloudSearch app helpful forÌýstores with lots ofÌýproducts. That app allows you toÌýupgrade theÌýsearch inÌýyour store toÌýshow suggestions andÌýautomatically correct spelling.

The CloudSearch app also shows you what store visitors searched for. You can use that data toÌýoptimize your catalog toÌýmatch your customers’ needs.

Overall, Jordan believes that ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed has all theÌýnecessary tools forÌýonline stores:

ÌýIÌýwould recommend anyone looking toÌýcreate anÌýecommerce store toÌýconsider ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed asÌýaÌýserious contender. We’ve previously used Shopify, Big Commerce, andÌýWooCommerce, andÌýall ofÌýthose platforms fell short ofÌýtheÌýmark. ºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed has been theÌýonly platform that has worked forÌýus! Again, theÌýcustomization team’s bespoke development has enabled usÌýtoÌýsucceed.ÌýJordan Woolmer

ByÌýtheÌýway, you too can adjust your online store toÌýtheÌýunique needs ofÌýyour business andÌýcustomers. Reach out toÌýour customization team toÌýdescribe you idea orÌýbusiness goal andÌýwe’ll find theÌýbest solution.

Share Your Story onÌýtheÌýBlog

InÌýtheÌý“Success Stories” section ofÌýtheÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ byÌýLightspeed blog, you can get toÌýknow fellow merchants andÌýlearn from first-hand experience.

IfÌýyou’d like toÌýshare your experience running anÌýºÚÁÏÃÅ store, orÌýgive advice toÌýfellow entrepreneurs onÌýusing ºÚÁÏÃÅ tools toÌýtheÌýfullest, we’d love toÌýhear from you. Reach out toÌýblog@ecwid.com andÌýwe’ll take itÌýfrom there!