This is the story of Jane Aus and her inspiring handmade jewelry business, Seco. The Studio, located in Tartu, creates exceptional and unique collections of metal accessories. Every detail is carefully crafted by hand to ensure that each customer gets a unique piece of jewelry.
Seco by Jane Aus: Creating jewelry
The birth of Seco – crafted with love and inspired by nature
Jane: Seco was born out of a desire to provide customers with handmade metal jewelry. A couple of years before starting the company, I had already created jewelry from various materials. I changed the material relatively quickly because the materials I had used previously didn't offer me enough creative possibilities. I ventured into working with metal, and from there, my interest in creating cast jewelry and jewelry craftsmanship grew.
Over the years, the brand has evolved along with me, and currently, Seco's selection mainly consists of minimalist silver jewelry. However, the love for nature and animals from the initial brand idea has remained, and I continue to draw inspiration from it.
Each jewelry model has a separate name, and in the product descriptions, I try to share the story of where I found the inspiration for creating such a piece. The jewelry is divided into collections, but these are constantly changing and growing collections.
The birth of Seco's reliable sales channel and sustainable business
Jane: Seco by Jane Aus is my official online store. It is typically one of the most trustworthy places to shop, especially from a product information perspective. I want to offer my customers the opportunity to buy directly from the artist. I believe that direct sales are always the most crucial for any artist. Firstly, it allows for direct interaction with the customer and the collection of valuable feedback on the products. Secondly, many retailers take a significant portion of the final product price.
For other retailers, I need to make products for on-site sales, and I could never include the entire product range in their selection. Therefore, Seco's official online store always provides the broadest range of products, offering the customer an advantage.
The first Seco online store was built on the OpenCart module. In a relatively short time, the web design needed to be changed. The entire platform had become outdated, to the point where starting from scratch would have been necessary to update the website. I realized that maintaining and keeping a standalone online store operational was too much for a small business like mine.
I was looking for more manageable solutions and gathered information from acquaintances who had already created their online stores on the Voog platform.
Voog seemed very convenient, and with the onset of the pandemic, I had enough free time to migrate the old website — which had been working with issues for several months — to the new environment. Just at that time, Voog also launched a campaign and offered new users 6 months of free usage, which sealed the deal for me.
Voog supports micro-entrepreneurs: Stress-free web management and exceptional customer service
Jane: I've been using Voog to create the Seco online store, and it has been
surprisingly easy. Mainly, I had to upload products and add the necessary information. I could copy some elements from the previous online store, but due to the different structure and design, a few new additions were required.
Even now, the Seco online store is definitely not completely finished. I'm constantly adding new products or modifying information. I suppose that's the charm and challenge of being a micro-entrepreneur – you can do everything yourself, but there isn't always enough attention to every detail.
Voog has significantly simplified my web management and made it stress-free. I don't have to worry about updates or data security because the service provider takes care of it. Voog is constantly evolving and adding updates, making online store management and customer service much easier. I can add metrics to the store and analyze data to reach customers even more effectively.
Easy and customer-friendly shopping on the Seco online store
Jane: On the Seco online store, we aim to make shopping very simple for our
customers. We started by reducing the unnecessary fields customers need
to fill out. Since I usually deliver orders through parcel lockers, the
essential information I require is the customer's name, phone number,
and email address. Unlike other online stores, we don't ask for a
complete mailing address.
Voog provides a clear and simple design for the online store,
eliminating unnecessary clutter on the page. Our goal is also to keep
the focus on the products and the accompanying information so that
customers can easily find what they're looking for.
Voog recently updated its website so that customers can view the product range and prices on a single page without opening a separate page for each product. We are also restructuring our product pages to save our customers valuable time.
Seco Tropic Collection: Philodendron earrings
Tips for creating a successful online store
Jane: Creating an online store is an exciting adventure but also comes with its challenges. To ensure the success of your store, follow a few key tips.
First, gather and analyze data from your website visitors to gain a clear understanding of how customers find and interact with your online store. Tools like Google Analytics are invaluable for collecting statistics. Data can reveal which channels to focus on – perhaps you're putting all your marketing effort and budget into social media, but your customers are actually coming to your site from elsewhere.
Secondly, make sure that your online store is trustworthy. Provide your company's contact information and at least one contact person whom customers can reach out to with questions or concerns. A skeptical customer can use a search engine to verify your business's legitimacy. Remember, a business is the people who work there, so don't leave an anonymous impression.
👍 Pro tip: If you are the manufacturer or designer of the products, make yourself visible as well! In our market, many brands advertise themselves as "Estonian design," but in reality, the seller has made a curated selection of products made by someone else.
It's very important to include dimensions and material information for your products. Since customers can't physically try and touch the products, they rely on this information to make an informed decision. Additionally, adding this information can reduce the number of returns.
It's very important to include dimensions and material information for your products. Since customers can't physically try and touch the products, they rely on this information to make an informed decision. Additionally, adding this information can reduce the number of returns.
Discover the advantages of your online store marketing
Jane: Marketing plays an incredibly important role in the success of an online store. Through SEO, I can improve my website's visibility on the web to stand out from my competitors. Statistics show that organic search brings in many customers, but I'm still fine-tuning SEO settings and keywords to improve it.
In addition, I've added the option for visitors to join the e-mail list on my online store – not just for customers but also for those interested in the store who haven't made a purchase yet. I don't want to advertise excessively to those who join, so I send newsletters with special offers and useful information.
Follow in Jane's footsteps: Create your online Store with Voog
Seco's journey has been inspiring and is a successful example of how to create your own online store for your business. Using the Voog platform, Jane has established a reliable sales channel, allowing her to reach more customers and engage in sustainable business practices. Jane's passion for creating beautiful and unique items has been the driving force behind her journey, and it is an inspiring story for anyone looking to embark on their entrepreneurial path.
With Voog, creating a website and online store is incredibly simple. Now, anyone can easily build their online store and, like Jane, bring their entrepreneurial dreams to life.
With Voog, creating a website and online store is incredibly simple. Now, anyone can easily build their online store and, like Jane, bring their entrepreneurial dreams to life.