CheckoutWeekly/TaskHusky Curated Newsletter #2116

LARPing with Gfuel on Shopify

April 27, 2021

Hello - 

You know one of the coolest things about the internet? Micro-markets. Not only can just about anyone go online and start a business or communicate with folks anywhere in the world, but it lets folks start businesses that just couldn’t survive in the bricks and mortar stores of yesterday. 

For example, you can create and market 

. You could sell 

. And even though the Amish are supposed to eschew technology, you can fire up a fancy new-fangled intrawebs site thingy to sell 

. And 

, this is about as Ironic Paradise as you can get.

But sometimes what we think is a micro-market is actually big business. Which brings us to today’s Shopify website teardown.

Happy Selling,

Zachary

This Week’s Target: Gfuel.com

Company Profile

Gfuel.com is “The Official Drink of Esports.”

OK … let me start by saying that I like to play the occasional computer game or two. But the thought that some kid playing StarCraft in his bedroom needs a special formulation of energy drink makes me die a little bit inside. Don’t get me wrong … I’m certain that the Gatorade that hydrated Michael Freak’in Jordan to win 6 NBA championships falls a bit short of expectations when you are KILLING it on Candy Crush II. And just because Genghis Khan managed to conquer most of Asia from horseback drinking fermented mares milk, that just doesn’t compare to the physical and psychological demands of Fortnite.

Gfuel.com was launched in 2012 to market 3 flavors of energy drinks to gamers who had access to their parent's credit card. Since then, they have expanded to become what marketers call a “Lifestyle Brand.” If you are new to marketing, a “Lifestyle Brand” is where you buy all the same stuff everybody else does, but you buy it from one particular store or brand because you associate it with a community, identity, or aspirational goal.

It’s why you might have had Star Wars pajamas as a kid and why there is an entire online store that sells merch for having 

.

Anyway … Gfuel is now a top 30 Shopify store, a top 16k site in the United States of Consumerism, and a top 30k site worldwide. They are a five-time Inc. 500 Company with annual revenue estimated at $87 million per year. They sell a wide range of products on their site, Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, and in a network of physical store locations — because when you’re about to level up after 10 straight hours of Mario Cart, you need your stuff NOW and a cup of coffee just ain’t gonna cut it.

Oh … and their Founder and CEO (

) looks like your Uncle the insurance salesman from Indianapolis

The Shopify Theme They Use

Most of these bigger sites are using custom themes … Gfuel is too.

The Good Stuff

The site designers know their target audience well. They make heavy use of influencers — celebrity gamers, famous YouTubers, etc. — to inspire feelings of aspiration. Heck, the influencers take up more space on the Home page than anything else.

They do a good job of pitching new flavor product releases with a count-down timer to get their customers geared up to buy on queue. And since their customers are likely sitting in front of their computers anyway ….

They have spent a ton of money showing their products actually in game-like simulations. I think that this is money well spent for their target demo. Take a look at the game-like 

 about halfway down. That will work on their customers who might just spend more time in the virtual worlds than in the real ones.

Needs Improvement

Gfuel thinks that their website is fast. But they are about to get SCHOOLED because Google changed the rules and are measuring different things starting next month. But, since Gatorade and Powerade have similar numbers, they might be OK. The truth is that whichever energy drink company gets their act together first is going to take some market share.

When I reviewed that site, there is too much getting in the way … too much content in between me and products to buy. And the three products that do appear on the home page are all out of stock. Maybe this builds some urgency? I still think that you should avoid showing customers what they cannot buy unless you let them backorder.

Apps They Deploy

We ran a scan to see what Shopify apps & supporting services they are deploying. Get a load of this list:

  • Hubsport — Customer Integration for marketing.

  • BoldCommerce — Checkout and subscriptions.

  • HotJar — Website heatmaps and behavior analytics.

  • Riskified — Fraud prevention.

  • JustUno — Social media marketing.

  • Zendesk — Customer service.

  • OneSignal — Push notifications.

  • Shopper Approved — eCommerce customer feedback.

  • Yotpo — Customer Reviews.

  • PayPal/ApplePay/AmazonPay — Express payment options.

  • DoubleClick — Ad network.

  • AdRoll — Another ad network.

  • GoAffPro — Sounds like an insult, but it’s actually affiliate marketing.

This may not be a complete list.

Marketing Stuff They Do

These guys market where their customers are. That means online — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch (gamer platform). Here are three current Facebook ads to serve as inspiration.

Sponsored

Make sure your Shopify website GOT GAME. If you need help making Shopify website tweaks or fixing those little nagging things on your Shopify store, let’s get stuff done. 

.

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