“Made in Montana” Bonafide Entrepreneurs
Red Oxx, a true collaborative commerce aficionado, manufactures the finest multi-purpose luggage and sporting gear renowned for their superior quality and durability. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, where each product is carefully handcrafted, Red Oxx invests in the community by providing jobs and performing redevelopment work in the local community.
The American brand is not only known for its commitment to provide local jobs within the community, but also for going above and beyond when it comes to their customers. They regularly solicit customer feedback and turn that feedback into action by creating new products, anticipating customer needs, and accommodating challenging demands, such as shipping to hotels. In turn, their stellar products and customer service are rewarded with thousands of verified positive reviews and unwavering brand loyalty.
The more we understand our customers, the better we can help them. And the better we help them, the more they succeed. And the more they succeed, the more we succeed – that’s a nice loop.
Jim Markel, CEO & Owner, Red Oxx
Red Oxx currently operates only one local brick-and-mortar store, blocks away from their factory in Billings. And, to ensure no retailer undermines the strong relationships with customers, they prefer to maintain full autonomy – and responsibility – over every aspect of a sale and the customer experience, by employing a direct-to-consumer approach. And while they do successfully follow their “not sold at a store near you” motto, they make sure to do it with a twist: by bringing their online store to customers everywhere.
Digital Presence, a De Facto Lifeline to the World
For Red Oxx, digital retail has always been the strategy. Their online channel has represented the bulk of their operations since their founding. In-house photography, videography, writing – you name it, they have it. And, where there’s content, there’s consumer behavior insights a brand can take advantage of to provide better services and products.
One of the reasons we’re so driven for content on our website – our website is our de facto lifeline to the world – is that we do not do printed mater. We’d rather put our money into the experience online.
Jim Markel, CEO & Owner, Red Oxx
Naturally, Red Oxx has been cautious about whom to entrust their website to over the years. A suitable platform had to sustain not only their ecommerce from start to finish but also their content creation and customer support. For many years, their trusted platform and partner had been UniteU.
VTEX & Red Oxx, Journey Companions Toward Success
When VTEX acquired UniteU back in 2019, Red Oxx took a moment to re-evaluate their future. Should they trust UniteU’s instincts and go forward with VTEX, a newcomer to the US market? Or should they migrate to one of several other platforms they had been considering, and start from scratch? In the end, they selected VTEX.
Red Oxx wanted to work with a large company that could offer valuable business expertise and long-term stability. While many vendors promised the same, VTEX ultimately won Red Oxx over through actions, not words – and with a collaborative commerce approach.
What really sold it for me was when VTEX representatives came to Montana. That’s how you win the game, you’ve got to show up. It meant that VTEX was serious. I had a good gut-feeling that if they built that company in Brazil and they’re coming to the US and they’re that hungry, then it’s all going to work out.
Jim Markel, CEO & Owner, Red Oxx
Looking back, VTEX proved itself with its broad capabilities and flexibility, and Red Oxx’s VTEX-powered website has been live since December 23, 2019. The Red Oxx team especially appreciates how easy it is to create store promotions and manage the front-end through the site editor, on top of having a more robust back-end than UniteU’s. The VTEX collaborative commerce platform enabled a smooth expansion of their ecommerce team, one in which technical background was no longer a requirement to oversee the channel.
It’s exciting to see how the website is developing. Now, everybody speaks the right language and everyone is talking about the right things every week: everything from conversion and traffic to APIs and integrations. I really feel that it was a growing experience.
Jim Markel, CEO & Owner, Red Oxx
Additionally, the prospect of more business input and planning, derived from a larger and more knowledgeable team, has proved incredibly valuable to Red Oxx. The VTEX customer experience (CX) team is heavily involved with Red Oxx to integrate and optimize apps and functionalities, ensuring they experience the true collaborative commerce with the extent of VTEX’s expanded capabilities.
You cannot spin a web of lies. You’ve got to have a great product, and you’ve got to have the right service to go with it. VTEX has both.
Jim Markel, CEO & Owner, Red Oxx
One-Way Ticket to a Collaborative Future
Nowadays, this support is of utmost importance, as the COVID-19 lockdowns have severely impacted international travelling and Red Oxx’s revenue streams. As the world slowly returns to normal, Red Oxx is determined to delve deeper into digital marketing under the guidance of VTEX and to fully embrace collaborative commerce. That way, when planes roar across the sky again, Red Oxx will be alongside adventurous souls yearning to discover the world in practical style – and VTEX will be the one revving the digital engines.
