NKUKU - Upp

Our impact in numbers:

37%

increase in sales volume

£230k

added monthly incremental revenue

26m

additional impressions

Overview:

Sector: Homeware
Services: Paid marketing
Focus: UK
Start: 2021

The customer

Nkuku creates beautifully handmade home and lifestyle products, working with artisans throughout the world, to combine timeless design with traditional skills and natural materials. Nkuku began as a wholesale business selling to independent UK stores, before developing into a unique retail brand. Nkuku is a Fair Trade company, auditing suppliers to ensure complete transparency and dedication to eco-friendly practices.

Customer Challenge

Having outsourced management of Google Shopping to a marketing agency, Nkuku felt there had to be a better way to manage their inventory (over 1,600 SKUs), and ensure each product was marketed successfully.

Nkuku approached Upp. to see how Upp.’s powerful operating system could help break the Google Shopping glass ceiling. Unlocking inventory potential, allowing ad spend budget to be used effectively and reach more consumers by:

Increasing product visibility to leverage Nkuku’s brand values
Capitalising on consumer trends
Marketing Nkuku’s entire product range
Consistently achieving Nkuku’s ROAS targets
Delivering increased value versus the agency model

“The Upp. platform automatically makes improvements to our campaigns meaning changes are implemented quickly to achieve and maintain our targets. This gave us the confidence that the platform is doing what is needed to optimise the campaigns on an ongoing basis.”

The complication

Upp.’s audit unearthed the main problem – that the agency team simply couldn’t spot – significant amounts of the marketing budget were being over-invested in the lowest performing products. The top 7% of revenue-generating products (accounting for 15% of total revenue) were receiving only a 1.7% share of advertising investment. Conversely, 4% of SKUs contributed just 0.3% of revenue but received 9% of total advertising spend.

“The AI and data-driven approach that Upp. uses just convinced us that there was a lot of opportunities in our Google Shopping and Upp was the right partner to help us unlock that potential.”

Customer success

Within the first three months, Upp. achieved for Nkuku:

A 37% increase in sales volume
Additional £230K of monthly incremental revenue
Increased conversion rate by over 37% (compared to the same period the previous year)
Specifically during Black Friday period, the conversion rate increase was 44% higher

“Upp. has delivered a cost-effective granular solution that enhances Google Shopping, giving us the confidence that their AI and Automation technology is ensuring all products get exposure at the right time and whilst always working to hit our target ROAS.”