eircom provides business broadband to the Organic Supermarket

1. The Organic Supermarket
Case Study | Broadband

2. 2 Case Study — The Organic Supermarket
Customer Overview
Based in Blackrock, Co Dublin,
the Organic Supermarket
is Ireland’s largest 100%
dedicated organic supermarket.
Their online store provides next-
day delivery to the 32 countries
with all of the supermarket’s
products available on-line.
The Need
The founder, Darren Grant
wanted to develop an online
store to operate alongside his
retail outlet. The development
of the online store allowed him
to increase his potential market
rapidly.
‘Our market went from
The Solution 4,000 people to four
The Organic Supermarket million people overnight.
choose eircom broadband to In addition, our overheads
power its online store.
remain the same yet we
Benefit
can exponentially grow
our revenue through the
The development of the site has
transformed the business with same costs that we are
year-on-year sales and turnover
increasing substantially. The
incurring. I see the website
clever use of social media as our core business going
allowed it to build a loyal
customer base which informs forward in 2012’
customers in real-time about
product promotions, updates
Darren Grant
and recipes.
Owner Manager,
The Organic Supermarket

3. Case Study — The Organic Supermarket 3

4. 4 Case Study — The Organic Supermarket
An Organic Route to
Success
By making use of social networking sites and blogging and
also by creating a full visual shopping experience, Darren
Grant has made his online store, the Organic Supermarket
a huge success.
When he opened The Organic Supermarket in Blackrock in 2008,
Darren Grant left a secure and very well-paid job to pursue his
business idea. “I had no experience in retail, but I really felt that
food in Ireland was becoming monotonous and that some of the
major supermarket chains were just taking over.”
So he carried out a lot of research into the organic food area and
detected a clear market niche. “I decided to do research into it
and I found out that there wasn’t yet a 100pc dedicated organic
supermarket in Ireland and went about building a business plan.”
Now Ireland’s largest organic retailer, Grant says he aims to
steadily expand his business portfolio to make it Europe-wide
within the next five years and has trademarked The Organic
Supermarket in all EU member states.
While his original plan was to grow a physical retail business,
in the “contracting econmic environment” he chose to set up
an online store (www.organicsupermarket.ie) as a more cost
effective means of reaching new markets.
Today The Organic Supermarket employs six people, with Grant
adding that good old-fashioned customer service is integral,
whether interacting with customers online or in person.
The Organic Supermarket’s website has already made quite
an impact. At the Irish Web Awards, the website earned the
accolade of ‘Most Beautiful Website’, while it also won ‘Best
Retail & Commercial Shopping Website’ at the 2009 eircom
Golden Spider Awards.

5. Case Study — The Organic Supermarket 5

6. 6 Case Study — The Organic Supermarket

7. Case Study — The Organic Supermarket 7
Giving Customers a
Visual Online Shopping
Experience
Realising the importance of having a web presence,
Grant says he originally created the website as a
marketing page to give people an overview of their
products and to direct customers to where The
Organic Supermarket was located.
However, while sales at the supermarket were growing
quite well at the Blackrock store, Grant decided to really
invest in the online space in early 2009.
“We took the ultimate gamble, which was the last of
the capital that we had, and we pumped it into our
online store. We looked at a strategy of how we could
keep our overheads the same, make an initial investment
and expand our market beyond the surrounding area
of Blackrock.” Teaming up with a web designer who
had worked on The Organic Supermarket’s original
logo, Grant’s criteria for his website was to have it non-
corporate-like.
“My whole business concept is to be unique and to
stand out from the crowd. To do that, I had to create
a bespoke design. “I wanted the brand to appear
funky, yet functional, and to get the message across
that the company is an independently-run Irish retail
business selling quality goods. I wanted it to be fun and
interactive.”
To give online customers the feeling that they are “in-
store”, Grant set out to create a full visual shopping
experience. That meant photographing every product that
is on the website.
“The customer can make the image larger and read the
ingredients. It gives a sense of real shopping,” he says.

8. 8 Case Study — The Organic Supermarket
Social media
broadens reach
As soon as The Organic Supermarket launched
its website, Grant says people picked up on
its distinctive design and graphics, with the
news spreading globally via its blogs.
He has also recognised the value of integrating
social media into his marketing approach and The
Organic Supermarket now has a Twitter account
with 1,230 followers and a Facebook page with
over 2,050 fans.
“If I have a special offer or an interesting fact and
I Twitter or Facebook it, I am hitting 3,280 people.
We’ve integrated that technology into the website.
We update our blog regularly, with celebrity chef
Rozanne Steven contributing recipes to the site –
we even put up our radio and TV interviews.”
“For the past few months, the website has been
getting 7,600 visitors per month, with an average
of about 40,500 page impressions. It’s getting
busier and busier.”
In terms of the company’s broadband connection,
which is with eircom, Grant says this is vital. “Our
broadband connection is absolutely critcal. Being
without it would be drastic for our business.”

9. Case Study — The Organic Supermarket 9
Watch Video
Darren Grant discusses the
Organic Supermarket
“For the past few months, the
website has been getting 7,600
visitors per month, with an
average of about 40,500 page
impressions. It’s getting busier
and busier.”
Darren Grant
Owner Manager
The Organic Supermarket

10. Get in touch
To find out how broadband can benefit
your business, please contact your
eircom Account Manager.
www.eircomforbusiness.ie