🧯 Safety first with guided selling: 17% + conversion for Brandpreventiewinkel

Full of passion, Jeroen shares all about his 'BHAG' (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for what is now Brandpreventiewinkel - and how he achieved it in just 8 years.

It didn't come without challenges. Especially advising on the right products - crucial when it comes to fire prevention - was difficult due to the reliance on static product filters. Guided selling software turned out to be the solution to provide the right product advice, drastically increase conversion, and reduce the pressure on customer service.

From attic to market leader

When Jeroen and Frans bought their initial domain, they certainly couldn't call themselves experts. They knew very little about the market. It soon became clear that real success required more than just a simple online store.
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"If you focus on a niche, you can easily make money online," Jeroen explains. "But there comes a point where just reselling products from wholesalers or suppliers isn't enough. Those prices and margins can't be matched."

Step by step, they expanded with new products, their own inventory, and now even their own brand: SAVS. That turned out to be the key to success. Brandpreventiewinkel has since become the market leader in the Netherlands and Belgium. This is thanks to the right mindset and a bit of luck: smoke detectors have been mandatory in the Netherlands since 2022.

"We've achieved our BHAG and have been in the Twinkle100 since last month. We're very proud of that," says Jeroen.

Now that they've built a strong position, Jeroen and Frans want to maintain Brandpreventiewinkel's authority. That's no easy task in today's competitive e-commerce world.

Higher margins and 17% conversion with a product finder

Jeroen knows very well that you can only strengthen your market position by continuing to innovate. So, he's always looking for new solutions to stay ahead.

"Of course, we want to sell as many products as possible," says Jeroen. "But how do we convince people to actually bring safety into their homes, instead of just one product? And how do you ensure that people buy exactly the right product when there's so much choice?"
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Until a year ago, they used self-built product filters on the lister pages of the online store for this purpose. It took quite a bit of time before they even worked properly.

Jeroen: "Product filters are static and you can't control them. The result is that customers still get 35 product recommendations and don't know what to choose."

Out of this need, the guided selling software from Aiden came into play. By simply asking a few questions, Brandpreventiewinkel now provides customers with truly personalized advice when they're not sure which smoke detector, escape ladder, or fire extinguisher they need.

"The conversion rate is incredibly high, Jeroen explains enthusiastically. "On average, we are at 17%, but there are also days with even 26% conversion when people use the product finder."

Thanks to guided selling, Brandpreventiewinkel now not only increases conversion rates but also the profit margin of the entire online store. Jeroen: "We attribute more value to a product when it needs to be highlighted more prominently. That increases our margins, making Aiden's guided selling software a much stronger solution than a product filter."

And even in the long run, guided selling makes an impact. "Thanks to the product finder, we can make people aware of new products that they wouldn't have bought before. This allows us to achieve additional upsells at a later stage."

The authority on fire safety in e-commerce

Using guided selling, Brandpreventiewinkel also strengthens its position as an authority within the field of fire safety in e-commerce, Jeroen explains: "By positioning ourselves as the specialist, I hope that people buy directly from us, seeing as marketplaces don't offer product finders."

But marketplaces aren't the only influential players in the e-commerce landscape: the role of Google has also grown in recent years. If you search for "smoke detector," Google will display the online store that pays the most as the first result.

Jeroen expects that the current advertising model will change. He sees AI as a solution and is already experiencing it in practice.

"Aiden was the first solution to offer an AI feature. With the click of a button, your product finder is created, providing a lot of guidance. It works perfectly. This way, we can add the right product to the right story."

The golden tip for peers

Jeroen was pleasantly surprised by Aiden's AI feature. He is very curious about what e-commerce will look like in a few years. One thing he is certain of: it will change, and both online stores and their partners need to adapt.

For colleagues, he has an important message. If they're a competitor of Brandpreventiewinkel: "Don't start using Aiden," he says with a laugh.

"For online retailers, using Aiden is a no-brainer. As a business owner, I know everything about my products, but a customer doesn't. Guided selling is relevant for any type of product."

The Aiden product finders help Brandpreventiewinkel provide more service to their customers, and they appreciate it. Read what online shoppers think about it here: