For Well.ca CEO Rebecca McKillican, the e-commerce market isn’t doing enough to cater to a major consumer: the busy mom.
“We see these consumers leading the way and wanting choice in how they shop. They want to shop via an app, they want to shop on their tablet at night; they want that choice to shop however they want to,” said McKillican in an interview on BNN’s The Disruptors. “It’s interesting that a lot of the traditional retailers have not been catering to this audience in terms of saying ‘Yes, we need to change the way we operate to address the way she shops.'”
Well.ca, which offers products for natural and green-conscious consumers, carries more than 50,000 products from over 3,000 brands. The brand boasts awards like the 2013 Retail Council of Canada Award for best e-commerce tailor, the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovations award for best e-tailer and the 2012 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards for best online retailer. So far, the company has shipped one million orders.
“We’re a private company so we don’t disclose sales, but I can say we’re in the many tens of millions and we are a profitable company,” McKillican.
In addition to sales numbers, Disruptors co-host Amber Kanwar also asked McKillican about a major issue between December 2013 and January 2014, when the company suffered a security breach that exposed the credit card and billing information of thousands of customers. However, Well.ca only learned about the full extent of the breach a month later.
“You have to be very vigilant and very prepared, and addressing the customer confidence is your first and foremost priority as well as making sure that you are solid and this is something that will never happen again,” said McKillican.
There are signs the company’s making it right — Well.ca’s most recent award was the 2015 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Award for consumer champion. “I think that the way we handle it with our customers, of course it’s an unfortunate event, and we are stronger than ever and more prepared for it.”
Watch the entire one-on-one below:
BetaKit is a production partner on The Disruptors. Tune in to BNN every Thursday night at 7pm for full episodes!