The data says that startups without their own merch fail 100% of the time*
Contradictory to most Estonian startups, we didn't start our merch line with Reet Aus t-shirts or Patagonia hoodies but with upcycled hats from Lentsius Design. The hats are made of old tents from Estonian Defense Forces and are waterproof. Besides upcycled clothing and accessories, Lentsius is well-known for its jewelry that is made of scraps from the metal industry and the aviation industry. They are also one of the brands that have joined Hertwill and are available on our platform.
*We are not sure of the reliability of this data
Hertwill is a plug-and-play solution for online stores that enables them to sell products of independent European brands. Our solution includes sourcing, warehousing and order fulfillment. We handle all the logistics of getting the products from brands to the online stores' customers, so the stores can focus on marketing and selling the products.
Hertwill is an Estonian startup founded by former employees of Pipedrive, Single.Earth and Omniva, and is backed by one of the most well-known Finnish VCs. You can read more about our story.
Currently, we are working with more than 50 independent European brands and manufacturers, but new products are added to our catalog daily. We focus on brands that are still relatively unknown but whose products are of excellent quality. None of the products we provide are available on Amazon or Aliexpress. The main categories we focus on at the moment are clothing, shoes, bags, home decor and jewelry. Our special attention is on sustainable goods - for example, we work with a jewelry brand that is upcycling materials left over from aircraft manufacturing.
Our API enables seamless integration with your store, so you don't have to manually insert product information or manage your orders. Currently, we provide plugins for WooCommerce and Shopify.
Hertwill is available for online stores and brands in the European Union.
It's relatively easy. Sign up and choose products from our catalog, sync them to your online store and start selling.
It depends on your area of expertise and ambitions. For example, if you have run an online store before, it might be a couple of hours a week. But if this is your first time and you don't have a digital marketing or e-commerce background, it might be 3-6x more. In general, building an international store requires even more time.
Usually, most work hours are put in at the beginning when trying to get the store up and running. After that, the amount of work usually decreases over time, and ultimately, if you outsource customer support, the store might become a source of passive income. We recommend running the store together with someone as it's more fun, you get things done faster, and you have a higher chance of success.
The average store makes about 40 000€ per year selling our products. The most successful makes about 200 000€, and the least successful has made 400€.
