Boasting more than 1.5 million readers per month, Uncrate is an absolute giant when it comes to driving traffic and sales to online stores.
With over 165,000 Facebook likes, 75,000 Twitter followers, and 20,000 Instagram followers it’s safe to say they have a huge reach.
Because of this, it’s no surprise that getting your product featured isn’t easy. It takes resourcefulness, a clever approach, as well as having a unique product. Not all products will get featured.
In this post, we’re going to look at some Shopify stores that have been able to get their product featured on Uncrate, and the effect it had on their business. Using clever guerilla techniques, we’ll show you the exact steps these stores took to get featured.
Some stores saw a 385% increase in sales in just one month.
How Uncrate works
Started in 2004, Uncrate specializes in curating products from around the web. They were listed as one of TIME Magazine’s top websites of 2012.
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Featuring everything from a FIDE World Championship Chess Set, to Hoverboards - Uncrate loves to post unique products. With near real-time coverage, you can find the latest products popping up on their homepage.
Uncrate links directly to a product, edits the product picture to match a specific aesthetic, as well as writes a brief description of the product.
There’s also the option to register an account on Uncrate, so you can stash your most wanted products to purchase at a later date.
What you need to know
It’s seemingly impossible to get in touch with the team at Uncrate. From the stores that I spoke to - they all said there was practically no communication. Most of the time, they were shooting emails into the dark.
- Uncrate has an extremely active, and loyal fanbase. Their readers are interested in one thing: spending money on new, cool products.
- It takes persistence and creativity to get their attention. There’s no way around that.
- The majority of Uncrate’s readers are men in their thirties.
- Not all products that get featured will perform as well as others.
- It can take months to get featured.
- Chances are, you won’t have any time to prepare for the horde of shoppers that will come to your store.
We're going to look at some case studies from Shopify stores that were able to get featured on the homepage of Uncrate. They’ve been kind enough to include information about sales, traffic, other opportunities that came up after being featured.
The stores I was able to speak to are all related to Food & Drink. That was entirely unintentional. Perhaps that is a trending product to sell right now.
Note: Not all products will get featured. Because Uncrate has been able to build such a strong relationship with their readers, they're committed to only featuring unique, cool products that are hard to find anywhere else. They are most definitely the gold-standard when it comes to product blogs.
In this post we'll go over what three merchants did to get featured on Uncrate, as well as more information about the unique product they're selling.
The Uncrate effect: case studies on Shopify stores
Store: MixedMade.com
Product: Bees Knees Spicy Honey
Date featured: September 25, 2014
MixedMade is an online store that creates the most versatile and delightful hot sauce using just two ingredients: honey and chili peppers.
Every batch is handmade with love and “spice-induced watering eyes” in Brooklyn, New York.
Since people didn’t know about their product, they had to come up with a creative way of getting press.
With enough persistence and constant emails, MixedMade was lucky enough to get featured on BusinessInsider, which recounted their 30-day launch and the lessons they learned.
However, the huge amount of traffic they received from this only brought in two orders.
On the other hand, after being picked up by Uncrate - their traffic and orders skyrocketed.
$4800 in sales over 4 days, with a 5.3% conversion rate. That’s an average of $1200 per day after getting featured on Uncrate.
How did you get in touch with the team at Uncrate?
My partner tried mostly through email to reach them for a month. I think we had a good article on Grubstreet, and then Uncrate hit like a week later. Something about Uncrate that’s interesting is that there doesn’t seem to be a method of communicating with them. There was no discussion or any interaction. For us, we sent a number of emails and photos over the span of a few weeks, and all of a sudden we were featured.
We contacted them through the contact form on their website, as well as their parent company - ZombieCorp.
I was trying to reach them for two months, and never heard anything from them.
What sort of results in terms of sales and traffic did you see from getting featured?
Uncrate is still our top source for traffic. I think it’s because it’s such an obvious place for people to go to buy gifts and new products. We definitely picked up a number of wholesale accounts as well. These practically just fell into our lap because of Uncrate.
After being featured, did any other opportunities come up?
There definitely were a few other opportunities. We were on CNBC Power Pitch - that either came out of our Grubstreet article or Uncrate. There’s a sense of credibility after being featured on these blogs. It’s less of a risk for someone to talk about us.
Do you have any closing thoughts, or recommendations for entrepreneurs looking to get featured on product blogs?
It really comes down to relationships that you form - like with normal people. Make it easy for them to help you. With press, we’ll propose stories. They like that. So many people think it’s a lottery that you have to win, but it’s not. It’s more about persistence and wanting to form a relationship from the get-go.
Store: ThreeJerksJerky.com
Product: Three Jerks
Featured on: September, 2014
Friends, passionate foodies, occasional jerks. The team that makes up Three Jerks Jerky loves their beef jerky.
“We’ve spent countless hours experimenting with various cuts of meat and different flavors in pursuit of this holy grail of a snack.”
Lean yet succulent, the jerks have made their beef jerky from the filet mignon cut of the cow.
How did you get in touch with the team at Uncrate?
We’re not sure where it came from. It may have been picked up from one of the other media sources, because they had images that didn’t come from us. We had no back and forth whatsoever. Uncrate came out of nowhere. We saw our Shopify sales start to explode. It turns out it was coming from Uncrate.
What sort of results in terms of sales and traffic did you see from getting featured?
It’s still continuous. It’s still driving the most traffic to our website out of any source. This has been going on for a few weeks since we were featured. Over the last 90 days, we’ve gotten over 3,000 referrals from Uncrate. The second on the list is CoolMaterial, with about 150. That’s crazy.
Any closing thoughts about the experience?
With Uncrate, we’ve noticed that it has been totally organic. It didn’t come through any PR channels, and it’s been the most impactful. There’s something there to be said there about generating press.
Store: GoChomps.com
Product: Chomps Grass Fed Beef Snack Sticks
Featured on: November, 2013
Chomps are grass fed beef snacks - an alternative to the unhealthy hotrods you’ll find in convenience stores.
All of their beef snacks are sourced from grass fed and grass finished beef from local farmers, to ensure the traceability and sustainability for all of their products.
How did you get in touch with the team at Uncrate?
Peter (my partner) and I have always liked the website. It’s sort of like Maxim Magazine but has more of a modern twist to it. I think originally we were just fans of Uncrate as a consumer. And then, once we launched Chomps last year, we knew our product would appeal to their audience.
We did a lot of diligence to make it happen. We sent a bunch of samples and hounded them for a while. But even then, literally there was radio silence for about 3 months. We ended up contacting Uncrate’s parent company, ZombieCorp.
You can get a mailing address to send a product sample to by simply performing a WHOIS search: ZombieCorp
Note: sending unsolicited product samples is not recommended. WHOIS searches can be used for any website, not just Uncrate.
What sort of results in terms of sales and traffic did you see from getting featured?
We were featured November of last year, back in 2013. We’re still listed under their food section, so we still see some traffic and sales from them. It had been about 2 or 3 months until it got featured. All of a sudden, our phones started blowing up with sales. Uncrate didn’t tell us that we had been featured. It was like Christmas!
Uncrate really showed us that Chomps isn't going to be limited to a niche market and it appeals to anybody looking for a healthy, convenient and tasty snack. Since then we've gained new popularity with celebrity customers and professional athletes, which is really cool. We've also gained traction in new markets.
Do you have any recommendations for store owners trying to get on Uncrate?
It’s no different than sending your product to a blogger. The one thing is that you have to look through all the products on Uncrate. It’s going to be those early 30, white collar workers who are looking at Uncrate. Your product has to fit with that market.
Joining the zombie apocalypse
It’s not easy getting featured on a huge product blog that has such a loyal fanbase. The editors will only look for quality products that are only the most unique, cool products they can find.
Of course, they always need help finding these products. Not everyone is a robot that can scour the internet looking for the hottest new products. So, we're going to join the zombie apocalypse.
- Prepare your story and your email script to contact the editors.
- Make sure that you’re brief in your email, but get your message across.
- Be prepared technically. Even if you don’t hear back from anyone, always be ready for a rush of orders at a moments notice.
- Contact ZombieCorp, rather than Uncrate.
- Cater your message to the look and feel of Uncrate, and ZombieCorp.
- Be persistent. Followup about a week after your initial contact.
Bonus: email script used
This is the exact script that one store used when contacting the Uncrate team through ZombieCorp. It's a highly effective technique that can be applied when reaching out to blogs.
I’m broadcasting this from a safe house. I’m with a group of survivors. The virus seems to have spread across [country] - we’re doing our best to stay calm.
We can hear the zombies outside. We think we’ve found an antivirus. One of our group members has been able to cure himself after being bitten. He simply used [product] to [perform action] - it seems like he is getting healthier every day now. I’m not sure what steps to take next, but there is hope.
I think ZombieCorp may be our only way of getting the antidote to those in need. Do you think you could relay this message, about [your product]?
We think it could save the lives of those infected.
I've included a few pictures that show how the product works. Have you seen anything like this before? I've also setup a remote access to an online portal where we can distribute it. You can take a look here [yourwebsite].
That's all for now. Stay safe.
Update:
This script may have worked in the past, but it's probably not the best way to get their attention now.
Keep it simple, have a unique product, and have fun with it when you do get featured!
Conclusion
Now that we've kicked open the doors, it's time for you to apply these strategies for your own store. Uncrate is one of the most powerful product blogs online, if not the most powerful. It can drive thousands of consumers to your store, as well as open many more doors to other opportunities for your business.
It is possible for any store to get featured, it's just a matter of being clever with your approach and being persistent.
Further reading
About The Author
Tucker Schreiber is an ecommerce entrepreneur and Content Marketer at Shopify. Get more from Tucker on Twitter.