How Tecovas Boot Scooted Its Way to an Amazon-Like Checkout Experience

Introduction

A pioneer in ecommerce for cowboy boots and leather goods

Originally launching in 2015, the Austin-based western-wear retailer Tecovas sells affordable leather shoes and accessories direct to consumers (D2C). Tecovas started off as an online-only shop, launching their first Shopify powered website the same year of their founding. As they quickly grew, Tecovas began looking for new opportunities to enhance their ecommerce delivery experience — specifically on their checkout page.

Objectives

A shipping partner that offers delivery transparency

Like most D2C brands, Tecovas started off as an online-only shop, launching their first Shopify powered website the same year of their founding.

The goal of their website was simple – to share their story and a line of handmade products for their customers to buy. And it worked, earning them $15 million in new equity funding in 2021 to help expand new stores across the United States.

With this growth, Tecovas began looking for new opportunities to enhance their ecommerce experience as their brick-and-mortar business took off.

Challenges

How can Tecovas enhance their delivery experience at checkout

Tecovas needed to enhance their ecommerce delivery experience — specifically on their checkout page.

At Tecovas’ checkout, customers were given various shipping options and shipping costs ranging from standard shipping to 2-day delivery (and everything in between). But, they were only given delivery date estimates. They knew that from a user experience standpoint, this lack of specificity was leading to confusion as to when their order would actually arrive.

Since honesty and transparency are key to their brand message, Tecovas chose ShipperHQ to help them show actual delivery dates at checkout, clearing up any confusion that may have occurred by having a delivery range instead.

“Our website used to only show delivery ranges at checkout,” said Solomon. “Previously, we would display something like “3-6 business days” as an estimate. In a lot of cases, the boots arrive much faster than that, but we couldn’t message that universally. With ShipperHQ, now we can offer real-time delivery date details calculated by FedEx.”

Solution

Shipping savings that add up

Tecovas customers expect a lot from their online buying experience. So when it came time to launch their new line of Python leather products, Tecovas knew they needed to remove the expedited shipping options at checkout when they initially offered snakeskin items on the site.

For a lot of SMBs, each penny spent or saved is analyzed in detail. Shipping, in particular, is a costly and time-consuming challenge for any ecommerce store. So finding new ways to improve numbers is always top of mind.

From choosing your packaging and inserts, figuring out your shipping margins, picking out what carriers to work with, and managing a fulfillment team — there's a lot involved in a shipping strategy.

Key Results

An online shopping experience you can trust

“We are able to save on labor costs by smoothing out our fulfillment process. Since we now provide our customers with accurate delivery date information — one that takes into account how long dispatch actually takes — we can batch ship our orders more efficiently." said Solomon.

The Tecovas warehouse team knows exactly what orders to fulfill and ship out on a given day to meet the delivery date promised to customers at checkout. Beyond improving efficiency, Tecovas is also able to save money with ShipperHQ by validating a customer’s address.

By determining whether a customer’s address is residential or commercial, Tecovas can charge the correct amount for last-mile delivery. They are also able to avoid invalid addressing charges and prevent orders from going to incorrect locations. It’s a win-win.

“We spent some time doing manual address validation before, but knew a third-party Shopify app like ShipperHQ could do it a lot better than us and give us valuable ROI."

While more competitors enter the D2C boot-making space, including traditional western-wear companies, Tecovas dedication to their customers is what will set them apart for years to come.

That’s why Tecovas and ShipperHQ work so well together. Tecovas can customize their checkout to align with their business model, delivering an online shopping experience that is straightforward and trustworthy.

“As we expand into new product lines and open up stores in other parts of the country, we will continue to look for new ways to improve our online store experience and look forward to having ShipperHQ by our side along the way.”