Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Articles by: Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Elizabeth Hollingsworth is an experienced ecommerce merchant, having founded three online businesses. Her latest is My Wedding Décor, a provider of wedding decorations.

Newsletter frustrations result in new target audience

March 27, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Last month I noticed declining subscriptions across my three email newsletters. To offset the reduction, I decided to revise my signup popup box. I've used popup discount offers on other... Read More »
Comparing KPIs for 2 websites in first year of trading

February 19, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Now that My Event Décor has been live for just over 12 months, it’s time to check its metrics and compare its growth against the first year of My Wedding... Read More »
Would relocating damage my ecommerce business?

January 6, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

When I met my English husband-to-be seven years ago, he had relocated to Melbourne, Australia. At the time, I lived in Sydney, roughly 540 miles (870 km) north of Melbourne.... Read More »
Why can’t Australians purchase gift cards from U.S. merchants?

November 30, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

The Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales phenomenon is beginning to make an impact online and in brick-and-mortar stores, in Australia. Five years ago, inspired by the U.S. Cyber Monday sales, Click Frenzy... Read More »
6 ways I make more money from my websites

October 31, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Since launching the first of my two décor websites in April 2015, and the second in January 2017, I’ve learnt a few tactics that have helped my businesses make more... Read More »
Avoid ‘saving money’ content if you want higher-end clients

September 27, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

How do you position your ecommerce products and services? Are your items, on average, more expensive than your competitors? Do you offer high-end, custom products that shoppers can’t find elsewhere? Or... Read More »
New subcategories increase sales and signups

August 30, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Ecommerce sites typically launch with a modest product range and, potentially, category names that will become redundant as the business grows. I launched My Wedding Décor over two years ago with... Read More »
Pros and cons of running 2 businesses

July 30, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

I launched My Event Décor in January 2017 to sell products to corporate event designers and marketing managers. My Wedding Décor, which I started in April 2015, targets couples, wedding planners, and stylists. I... Read More »
What I’ve learnt from millennials and baby boomers

June 24, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

In the past nine months, I’ve had three event-management interns — two millennials (the generation born 1981-2000) and a baby boomer (those born 1946-1964) — work with me at My... Read More »
Preparing to exhibit at a wedding expo

April 25, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

My Wedding Décor will soon exhibit at One Fine Day Wedding Fair in Melbourne, Australia. One Fine Day has been running high-end wedding fairs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide... Read More »
Deleting slow-moving inventory

March 27, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

My Wedding Décor will celebrate its second birthday next month. When the website launched in April 2015, it began with 80 products, which had grown to almost 500 products at the... Read More »
The challenge of setting up a second website

January 28, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

There must be many businesses that launch with a specific customer target market in mind, and then receive orders from quite different groups. When I launched My Wedding Décor in April... Read More »
For 2017: Better marketing, better products, better automation

December 30, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

I have been using the holidays to plan a three-point strategy for 2017. Create better targeted marketing. Fine-tune my product range and pricing for better profitability. Streamline customer service with automated emails where... Read More »
How long to wait for a return on investment?

November 29, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

One of the challenges of an online retailer is to determine the best advertising channels. In addition to Facebook advertising, I decided to concentrate My Wedding Décor on a few wedding directories to... Read More »
Wedding rentals (and order thresholds) boost revenue

October 24, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

When I launched My Wedding Decor in April 2015, the site had just 80 or so products for sale. Three weeks passed and I received my first order, from a Sydney-based... Read More »
How I maximize my holiday promotions

September 15, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

The critical holiday selling season is almost here. Here are five items that I’m focusing on to get the most of my holiday marketing activities. Offer coupons for additional info. Offer... Read More »
Comparing puppies to customers

July 29, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Last month, my husband and I began raising a black Labrador puppy. Next year, we will give one-year-old Whimsy to Guide Dogs Victoria for intensive training to help assist a person... Read More »
5 ways to alienate your customers

June 22, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

In a single month, I’ve encountered the following five instances of poor customer service from online companies. All could have been easily avoided. Silence after a payment. If you don’t contact... Read More »
How I measure ecommerce success

May 5, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Most merchants measure ecommerce success by revenue. Shopify’s dashboard notes tell me my website is in the top five percent of those launched in the last 12 months. But I don’t... Read More »
Lessons from a corner shop closing down

April 4, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

You’ve likely seen a few brick-and-mortar shops go out of business in recent times. I recently saw hastily-printed sheets at local ice cream store — called Lick Me — thanking... Read More »
Could a new slogan increase sales?

February 19, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

My Wedding Decor has gradually evolved in the 10 months since I launched the site. Four weeks ago I made two simple changes that may have been responsible for increasing my... Read More »
You lose money under-promising and over-delivering

January 2, 2016 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

There seems to be a well-meaning but misguided belief that as online retailers we should under-promise and over-deliver to make our customers more loyal. But I don’t believe this to be... Read More »
How I doubled my conversions in one month

November 25, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

My Wedding Decor turned seven months old on November 23. In the last month, advice from three sources — a wedding directory business development manager, a retailer on the Shopify forum,... Read More »
8 tips for setting up gift certificates, for ecommerce

September 9, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

With the festive season fast approaching, setting up a gift certificate option on your website can increase sales. This is something I plan to add on my wedding decor site, like... Read More »
How 10 Shopify apps have impacted my sales

July 30, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

I have installed 15 apps from the Shopify store since launching My Wedding Decor in late April. Here I examine the impact of 10 of those apps on my sales. Quantity... Read More »
9 tips for working with suppliers

June 16, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

I launched my third ecommerce venture, My Wedding Decor, in April. Since then, I have been working with over 40 wedding-product suppliers. Here’s what I’ve learned so far. 1. Maintain your... Read More »
First 3 weeks of my new business

May 15, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

After eight months of planning, I launched MyWeddingDecor.com.au on April 23. I founded the business to appeal to Australian couples that seek personalized, unique, and unusual wedding decor. Today, May... Read More »
The swift countdown to launching my new site

April 9, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Launching a new website takes a lot of preparation and planning. I first addressed my new ecommerce business, My Wedding Decor, back in February, in “Launching my third website business in 15... Read More »
Launching my third website business in 15 years

February 25, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

The countdown has begun: I launch my Australian wedding decorations website, my third ecommerce venture in 15 years, in eight weeks. And like many online retailers who sell items with... Read More »
Lessons Learned: Baking Site Says No to Shark Tank

February 11, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Many of the most successful online retailers sell products that solve problems. Daniel Rensing, who grew up in Levittown, N.Y., created a clever product that attracted press attention within 10 days... Read More »