Podcast transcript
James Dihardjo
So, Martin, thanks for making time in what appears to be your evening over in Canada.
Martin Zerrudo
Yeah.
James Dihardjo
I'm just going to handball straight to you and get you to kind of Intro who you are, what you do, and what's Seller Universe and keen to hear.
Martin Zerrudo
Thank you so much for having me on the show, James. First of all, kudos to and everything that you're doing with MerchantSpring. We're very happy to be working together. It's a fantastic service and tool. If anybody hasn't heard about MerchantSpring yet, if you're learning about it for the first time, go on their website, and learn more about it.
So yeah, my name is Martin Zerrudo. I'm the CEO of Seller Universe E-Commerce Group. We provide services and three main verticals, NetSuite, specifically eCommerce, Amazon account management, as well as Shopify. And yeah, our goal as you can see behind me is really scaling passionate e-commerce brands through these three service offerings.
James Dihardjo
Yeah. Cool. Cool. Now, I think we connected over the topic of NetSuite, right? Or at least I connected with Charles over that topic. So do you want to kind of explain what it is you do in relation to that, that kind of platform and that technology?
Martin Zerrudo
Absolutely. So for those who aren't aware, Oracle NetSuite is an ERP, which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. And it's a software that really allows you to manage different functions of your business all on one platform. Traditionally, when you're looking at your finances, your retail, your fulfillment, your manufacturing, maybe even your payroll, any kind of software that you're using to run your business, all of that was siloed.
None of that was communicating with each other. So not only was that very costly, because you're subscribing to so many different services and tools and software. You have to create departments for each one of those as well. And then on top of that, you have to maintain it. And then the worst part is you have to generate reports for each and every one of these different departments and software tools and services.
How do you really get actionable data on the enterprise level to really make the best kind of decisions and get the best kind of insight from all the different departments that are happening at the same time. So what we do specifically in the e-commerce space is utilize the ERP of NetSuite to combine all these business functions together and provide our partners, our clients with the ability to really navigate their business on an enterprise level. To grow and scale at a level where you're leveraging every department together on one platform. And it's not all over the place. Billions of different reports, different kinds of people. Yeah, so it's almost. Like an organized chaos in a way.
James Dihardjo
Interesting. So just to kind of play that back. So, you would actually maintain and manage the NetSuite platform for your clients, is that correct?
Martin Zerrudo
Yeah. So what happens is, say you're on something like QuickBooks and you kind of are graduating to a point now where you need to start connecting a lot of different parts of your business. Not just financials, but you know, your fulfillment. Maybe you're selling on multiple marketplaces, not just on your.com. Maybe you're on Shopify, you're on Amazon, you're on Walmart, right?
So, what we would do, so as a NetSuite solution partner, we're able to sell you a license of the ERP software, right? So we would have a discovery call, and talk about the things that you need, because NetSuite is made up of a lot of different modules. Doesn't mean that when you sign up for NetSuite that you need all of the modules.
So the implementation process is really our understanding, first of all, what is your business? Once we understand all the modules that you would need, traditionally, you start off with financials first, but it's, it's called Sweet Success. It's this implementation program that NetSuite has. So we would go through the Sweet Success Implementation Program, establish your needs, and start elevating, expanding, and accelerating so that you eventually dominate the category.
So once we sell you the license, we can also integrate or implement NetSuite into your system and start connecting all your different departments. It really all depends on the timeline. There are some aggregators that we're currently in an implementation phase right now. Take a couple of months. There are some aggregators as well that we're providing like a phase two or phase three implementation because sometimes it doesn't get off on the right foot. So they, they ask us to come in and kind of, clean up the process and get them implemented as soon as possible.
Once you have a license, once we've implemented NetSuite, then we can start to integrate, any kind of 3PL systems. Because we're so e-commerce-focused, NetSuite can be used for and is used by hundreds of millions of companies in a lot of different industries. But our vertical really is in the e-commerce space advance because we understand how your finances, how your connectors, your apps, and your 3PLs relate to your actual business model, which is eCommerce, right? Shopify, amazon.com, Walmart, and so on and so forth.
James Dihardjo
Get it. Okay. So why is NetSuite so prevalent, Martin?
Martin Zerrudo
That's a great question. I'm going to read this quote. I forgot who's, I think it was actually from NetSuite CFOs all choose NetSuite because they'll be able to grow along with their department revenue and company because it's scalable and it's all cloud-based. So what does that mean? You know, if we're going to have this conversation today, Hey, can NetSuite solve a lot of my problems? Yes, it can. But the real magic or the beauty of NetSuite is that because it's cloud-based, you're not maintaining servers. It's accessible on any kind of computer. You don't have to install NetSuite per se, on any kind of device. You can access it on your phone.
And number two, it's positioning you to leverage the scalability and growth of your company, right? If you use something like QuickBooks and no shame against QuickBooks, right? But if you're using certain programs that are providing you with a solution just for today, then you're not positioned for the problems of tomorrow because you're only solving the position of the problems for today. Whereas NetSuite literally is inherently built on the cloud to provide enterprise scalability. So regardless of if you're selling one SKU or a million SKUs, you're still using the same database. And there's a wealth of SDN or you know, developer, software developer network ecosystem that helps facilitate that growth.
It's all there, right? Connectors, Apps, and Software providers, all of that are there to help you scale. So it's so prevalent in e-commerce spaces because the people that we're talking to are used to selling a thousand dollars a month and are selling a hundred thousand dollars a month. And once they're talking in that ballpark, then you really need something that will harness all of that data and make sure that you continue to scale and you're not held back by one or two applications that can't talk to each other.
James Dihardjo
Interesting. I mean, this is a very good segue into my next question for you Martin. So, just thinking about Evolutions in this space, like you just talked about, you know, sellers basically going from thousand to a hundred thousand a month. And then with that comes the use of an Oracle product, which is very enterprisey and businessy and professional.
Martin Zerrudo
Absolutely.
James Dihardjo
So where do you see the whole space going? I'm keen to hear your thoughts on any front, like are you seeing it becoming more professional, more advanced? What are your thoughts on the future of this e-commerce space?
Martin Zerrudo
So right now, let's break it down. In terms of the actual e-commerce space right now, there's a lot of doom and gloom. Oh my gosh. Shopify had to lay off a whole bunch of people. I think like HubSpot or Hootsuite had to lay up a whole bunch of people. We're exiting the pandemic. So, a lot of online purchasing habits are on the down trend.
But at the same time, if you actually look at the trajectory of e-commerce, we saw a significant spike upwards in the last two years for online purchases versus traditional retail. And now that those purchases are going back down, it doesn't mean it's cratering, it's just going back down to the mean. And we're still following that same upward trajectory. Like I think, you know, we went from like 10 or 11% online purchases to like 19%, for all purchases that are happening in North America or, or in the US. So, if it goes back down to like 15, it's still a net growth of 5%. And if that's going to continue to grow, then we're eventually going to hit that 19% point at some point in the next couple of years.
And so I think while we're resorting back to the norm, unless Monkeypox somehow pushes us back into some crazy hope, you know, hopefully not, it doesn't mean that e-commerce is gone, it's definitely here to stay. Evidence obviously by the fact that, you know, even though Shopify's going through some challenges, certain products that or brands or services or businesses that were leveraging e-commerce are going through some headwinds that are challenging. It's not like they're going bankrupt. It's not like they're pivoting to a new service. Right. They're just riding this current challenge right now.
But, eCommerce is here to stay in a lot of different ways. And the great thing in terms of where it's going is that you're now competing on a global market in a way that's never seen before. Like, let's take Amazon Global Logistics for example. They literally created their own fleet of boats to address the supply chain issue which is seemingly like never ended. But the fact that there is so much demand for bringing products from overseas to the domestic ports that they had to build their own division.
They are I think building a new warehouse here in Toronto like I think in Hamilton or something like that. So it's here to stay. And for people who are listening who are like, Hey, maybe now's the time to get into Amazon or get into e-commerce. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying it's like a low barrier of entry like it was before, like this crazy, wild, wild west where you just throw a product on there and make a million dollars every night. But the tools are out there. And then NetSuite might be a little bit more further down the line. But getting onto Shopify listing a product on Amazon, finding a manufacturer, going on Alibaba, sourcing a product, and turning it into your own brand like that is happening every single day, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon.
James Dihardjo
Interesting. Very, very good optimistic outlook commentary there, Martin. Appreciate it.
Martin Zerrudo
Well, ask me in six months maybe I'm not living as well as I think I'm living, but it's okay. You know, we got to have an optimistic outlook.
James Dihardjo
No, that's good. Yeah. Good man. Final thoughts? So, Multi-channel kind of selling business. Like what are your thoughts on that? When I say multichannel, I mean like, selling on multiple Amazons around the world, or Walmart,
Martin Zerrudo
Right.
James Dihardjo
And having a Shopify, like, you think that's a good thing? Do you think it's a value add? Do you think it's a distraction? Like what's, what are your thoughts on that?
Martin Zerrudo
I think it really all depends on what is your goal. I don't inherently think it's good or bad. It can definitely be perceived that way. But I think it really all depends on what are your goals and the timing. Because if your goal is, man, I do want to be everywhere. I want to sell in Japan and I want to sell on Amazon in Germany and then Amazon and UK. Then I want to sell on Amazon in Canada and I want to sell on Walmart, and I also want to be on Instacart. Those are all great goals, but your timing needs to be in congruency with your actual scale of operations.
If you are just starting your brand, there's no way you're going to sell around the world to the scale that you're envisioning at that moment, at that specific time. If you focus on specific markets, really see if your product has legs in some places around the world, maybe it's just in your community, and 11 then you start branching off online in your city.
And then you start branching nationally or your continent or country. Then you're like, Hey, I've got .com. You know, down pat. And that's what happens with a lot of our brands. They're crushing it on .com and they say, Hey, can you guys help us on your .ca? Absolutely. Let's launch in Canada. Fantastic. Can you launch in .uk? Absolutely. What about German? I think, which is .de right? Actually, we have some partners who can provide the translations of that. I don't speak German, but my wife was born in Germany. She does, she speaks a little bit.
But yeah, when it comes to multi-channel, right? It's all about your goal and your timing. There are other companies who are super duper successful and they just want to be like the biggest fish in a small pond, and they're just crushing it regionally in whatever online fences or regions that they want playing because of the headache with global multichannel operations. Now you have a global supply chain. Now you have global demand and you kind of have to facilitate. But the great thing about NetSuite is it makes it a lot easier. Once the timing makes sense for you to implement NetSuite into your company, you have that global demand, and then it actually starts working.
James Dihardjo
Interesting. Again, another interesting perspective, Martin, but all makes sense. And look, I'm conscious of time and I know you need to get to your Burger.
*(Both laughs)*
James Dihardjo
So, thanks again for making time to chat and looking forward to, seeing yourself and the team in Vegas at the Helium 10 event.
Martin Zerrudo
Yes Sir.
James Dihardjo
Yeah, I'm sure we'll do this again soon. So thank you, man.
