10 Inspiring E-Commerce Entrepreneurs You Should Know

10 Inspiring E-Commerce Entrepreneurs You Should Know

As a CRO agency, we are humbled every day to work with some of the most talented e-commerce entrepreneurs in the world. As many people can tell you, starting a business is not easy – especially an online business! – and e-commerce entrepreneurs are some of the hardest working, smartest, data-driven professionals I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.

Here’s our list of the top 20 inspiring e-commerce entrepreneurs you should know about:

1. Paul Saunders – eLuxury Supply

eLuxury Supply is one of the best spots online to find quality bedding and home products. Veteran owned and an Inc 500 member, eLuxury is a great example of using beautiful design in e-commerce. Paul is a former Marine and with his extensive business career, it’s no wonder that he’s able to lead the company through a successful strategy.

2. Victoria Tsai – Tatcha

Tatcha is a Japanese inspired beauty line. Both the brand and product lines convey elegance and a sense of higher purpose when taking care of your beauty. Victoria started the line after being inspired through Japanese beauty and the product has grown. Looking at the site, we have to commend the team for such an excellent use of product images as well as implementing CRO best practices (very nice free shipping offer).

3. Chris and Amanda Jones – Plant Therapy

Plant Therapy sells essential oils and other natural products, such as fragrance. Their goal in starting the company was to offer quality aromatherapy products at a great price, and looking at their selection, we have to say they succeeded! Selling any type of essential oil online, where competition is fierce, is difficult, and our hat is off to the Plant Therapy team with all of their success.

4. Jessica Honegger – Noonday Collection

Noonday Collection sells fair trade jewelry (such as necklaces, bracelets, etc.), inspired by Jessica’s trip to Uganda. Together with her business partner Travis Wilson, Jessica has expanded Noonday to employ over 100 artisans.

Not only is it impressive that a direct selling company has such strong social impact, but it’s clear that the Noonday team took their e-commerce work seriously. The site is both gorgeous and well optimized. It conveys a strong brand image that builds trust, especially with prospective reps.

5. Ron Rudzin – Saatva

Saatva is a (formerly) bootstrapped mattress startup selling a premium mattress at an affordable price. Helping to break the “brokenness” of the mattress industry, Saatva is a clear innovator. Selling a mattress is hard enough, but selling one online – where people cannot even test the product – makes it all the more difficult. The team here has done an amazing job with using customer reviews, videos, etc. to build trust with a prospective customer in order to gain the sale.

6. Ethan McAfee – Bois Blanc Sports

Bois Blanc Sports is one of the fastest growing companies in Virginia. They specialize in sporting equipment but also sell clothing and other items. It’s quite impressive that they’ve been able to scale this growth using Shopify as their provider; in fact, we know several multi-million dollar stores running their entire business on Shopify for less than $79/mo. Our hat is off to Ethan, who appears to be multi-talented with both a CFA distinction and a rapidly growing business.

7. Andrew Vagenas – Pharmapacks

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Pharmapacks is a force to be reckoned with in e-commerce. With over $30M in online sales, pharmapacks is highly successful in retailing health and beauty products. After raising $750K from family and friends, their online sales exploded, and the rest has been history.

This company is a great example of using creativity to create loyalty with users, as they’ve taken an extremely competitive niche, applied some great customer experiences, and then created repeat business and word of mouth with satisfied customers.

8. John Ballay – Knot Standard

Knot Standard is one of the premier online retailers for premium menswear. It boasts great selection, great prices, and GREAT conversion-optimized design, combining both strong offers with brand building. John started the company to combine technology with premium fabrics, and it’s very impressive to grow a men’s apparel retailer to such scale.

9. Scott Harper – Side by Side Stuff

Side by Side Stuff is an online retailer specializing in side by side parts and other auto accessories. Their selection, price, reliability, and customer service make them one of the best online retailers. This niche is extremely competitive, and it’s impressive that the team has been able to maintain such a high growth rate in this industry. The site also offers strong offers for conversion, such as free shipping.

10. Chris Larsen – Cabinets.com

Cabinets.com is an online retailer of exactly what you would expect – cabinets! The site features gorgeous design as well as a wide selection. Chris is the CEO and it’s impressive that the team has been able to build such a respected brand so quickly, especially in a hyper-competitive environment.

That’s it! Any others that we missed, let us know in the comments below.