In just five years, Charles Cote, owner of Electric Mojo Guitars in Blainville, Quebec, has managed to build a global gear business with one driving purpose: to create a perfect experience for every customer in Canada, and everywhere else.
Because of minimum advertised price agreements with manufacturers, smaller shops like Electric Mojo have had a hard time attracting customers based on prices, Cote explains. “Of course, I advertise at the lowest price possible, so my prices are great. But I can’t go below a certain price to compete with sellers who don’t operate a shop.”
To compete with larger brands and those without the overhead of a brick-and-mortar store, Electric Mojo expanded through online international sales, a lowest-price guarantee and further differentiates itself by offering free same-day international shipping, Cote says. He joined Reverb in July of 2013 and quickly became a Reverb Preferred Seller and a leader in international sales, all while maintaining a stellar reputation for customer service and satisfaction.
Cote recently made time to talk with Reverb about the challenges of running a brick-and-mortar and the opportunities that selling on Reverb have afforded him.
Why did you start Electric Mojo?
I started the shop in 2010, shortly after finishing music school. Playing guitar is something I enjoy, but I always found myself obsessing over gear, searching guitar forums, listening to effect demos online and working on my guitar. I had always been buying and selling gear to fund my passion, so opening a shop seemed logical. Of course, managing an online music shop is a lot of work; I’ve been working non-stop for the last five years.
What brought you to Reverb and how has it impacted your business?
I was looking for a new marketplace and stumbled onto Reverb when you started placing ads online. Reverb has been fantastic for the shop, it gives me access to a community of musicians who understand and enjoy quality gear. The Reverb team works hard on being there for customers and shops. The platform is amazing.
You do business all over the world, how does a small shop in Quebec stand out in a global marketplace?
Over the last few years, the shop’s focus has been to create a perfect experience for every customer. During the shop’s first two years of existence, I built a catalog of products and was proud of was my focus. Now that the shop has become a dealer for lots of amazing brands, I wanted to improve every aspect of the transaction from start to finish: answering customer emails quickly, giving an even better customer service, offering the best prices, shipping orders on the same business day and offering a good return policy.
I think the fact that the shop offers a very human experience to customers helps with international sales. Customers can see shop pictures of the product they’re about to purchase and feel comfortable knowing that I stand behind everything I sell. Free international shipping doesn’t hurt either.
What spurred that decision?
As a Canadian musician, I’ve always been sensitive to high shipping fees. Shipping fees shouldn’t be an obstacle to a customer getting exactly the item they’re looking for. As a shop, I wanted to focus on making certain items more accessible to international customers. I feel it’s my shop’s responsibility to focus on finding the best shipping rates and methods. I understand buying online can be stressful for customers, so I’m trying to do everything I can to make transactions as painless as possible for them.
Many shops are intimidated to sell and ship internationally, how have you made it work?
It’s certainly a lot of work. At first, the shop lost a ton of money trying to find suitable solutions, so I can understand being intimidated with international shipping. You have to follow your costs closely, find shipping materials you know will withstand the travel and shipping services you know customers will be happy with.
What piece of gear do you want to be buried with?
As a shop owner, I’ve been lucky to be able to test and compare a ton of effects, amps and guitars. The responsiveness and touch-sensitivity of Two-Rock amps is something I have a hard time not working with nowadays.
Electric Mojo Guitars