10 AussieCommerce Group

AussieCommerce Group is one of the largest e-commerce groups in Australia with an impressive 14 retail brands under its belt.

The company began in 2010 after Adam Schwab and Jeremy Same launched their first website, DEALS.com.au.

From there, AussieCommerce Group has pursued an aggressive growth strategy, including recently snapping up the Australian and New Zealand arm of daily deals giant LivingSocial in order to strengthen its position in the market.

Interestingly, whenever AussieCommerce acquires a brand it never shuts it down.

Today the business has healthy revenue of more than $100 million thanks to the increasing demand for holidays, designer clothes, sportswear and gourmet food.

Co-founder Adam Schwab told SmartCompany one of the major things he has learnt as an entrepreneur is the importance of building a loyal customer base, particularly when it comes to e-commerce.

“One of the most difficult parts of operating an online business is convincing potential customers to trust you,” Schwab says.

“This is even more difficult when you are selling expensive branded products or international travel. We learned that the cost of keeping a member happy is far less than acquiring a new members.”

“Excellent customer service is a far more effective marketing tool than a television commercial,” he adds.

Schwab says one of the things that keeps him up at night is wondering how to constantly keep staff engaged.

“It’s even more difficult when we acquire businesses and significantly increase not only our total team size, but the degree of interactions between team members who have never worked together,” he says.

“We manage these issues through keeping very close to our team, engaging in regular feedback sessions – not merely annual reviews – and constantly improving processes to ensure that the team remain motivated and cared for.”