Why efficiency is key to eCommerce expansion according to this Fight Camp trainer
Raquel “Rocky” Harris knows a thing or two about kicking ass. She’s a five-time Muay Thai champion, Team USA gold medalist, Fight Camp trainer (that’s basically the Peloton of boxing)—and, most recently, a thriving entrepreneur (see our guide on how to become an entrepreneur). Harris now uses Wix eCommerce to sell a collection of wellness products to athletes like herself as the founder of Warm Up.
“I was making my own hand sanitizer and thought ‘why don’t they have sanitizers that kill fungus?,’” she says. “ There are always breakouts in boxing gyms due to common skin infections like ringworms. Tea tree soap is anti-fungal, so I started adding it to my hand sanitizers, which eventually evolved into my sweat butters.”
She launched her first product line while training clients and creating Wix sites for her colleagues, all while moving across the country to shoot workouts for Fight Camp.
Read Also: How to start a business
“I’m glad I had my operations in place when Fight Camp hit me up,” she says. “I moved from New York to California, and I was still able to work with clients virtually and develop my product line.”
She’s able to juggle many projects, in part, by knowing when to work harder and when to work smarter, something Muay Thai instilled in her.
“In martial arts, the more efficient your movement, the better your results,” she says. “It's a waste of energy to go through the motions.”
Harris approaches her eCommerce business the same way, prioritizing smooth operations in the name of expansion. Here’s how she applies her pro-level of efficiency to all aspects of her business, and how you can too.
Automate anything that can be automated
“I got more organized recently because I needed my training business to run itself a bit more, so I could have time for myself and for other aspects of my [eCommerce] business.
The biggest thing was scheduling my training sessions online when I was still training clients. I used the Wix Bookings app so they could schedule sessions on their own from my site. I was training out of two locations and virtually. I liked that clients could easily see their options, and I think having a clear virtual option helped me pick up more clients during the pandemic. The confirmation email gets sent out automatically, and this gave me more time for Warm Up because I wasn’t managing it all myself. Now, people can reschedule or cancel on my site, and I don’t worry about missing something.”
Be open with the people in your network
“Before I launched Warm Up, I played with different formulations at home for a long time. I use shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax. The first time, I used so much beeswax that it was like a candle. It was softer the second time, but not soft enough to melt on your skin, and that’s what I needed the product to do.
I started telling people in my network what I was doing, and a friend introduced me to a cosmetic chemist. We sat on the phone for hours, literally, and she helped me fine tune my measurements and choose the best binding ingredients. She was so helpful and inspired me to reach out to other people for advice in different areas. I had to ask my cousin ‘how in the world do I ship? What printing labels should I use? How am I getting the accurate weight for shipping?’
Now, I weigh everything at home and make my labels on Wix. Wix creates the label, then I print it and slap it on the box. From there, I tape everything up, go to the post office, and I don't need to wait in line. I just go to the dropoff section.”
Put your branding on everything
“One cool story about the post office: I was shipping out of there for a while, and they started recognizing my business from my custom branded boxes.
One time, one of my packages didn't have a shipping label on it. It was literally a box that said ‘Warm Up’ with no website and no address. USPS [knew to send] it back to my apartment with a note saying, ‘Is this you?’
That made me think, ‘Next time, I’m going to put my url on the boxes in case of a situation like that, so people can look at my website.’"
Consider collaborations
“I sold out some of my products thanks to my collaborations with athletes. I had my friend Bruce Carrington, a professional boxer, try my product. And he loved it. He had just made the Olympic team, so we worked together on a limited-edition jar. It sold out within a week.
After that, a bunch of athletes DM’d me. I also did a collaboration with boxer Oshae Jones that sold out within a month. I have another collab coming up with Olympian Delante Tiger Johnson."
"Next, I want to do pop-ups at gyms, and eventually, expand to workout clothes. I’m looking for fabrics that are also anti-fungal.
It’s a lot, but even though I’m doing different things, they all work together and help each other. For example, a lot of my customers are also my clients. And now that I’ve streamlined a lot of my processes, I’m just sitting down with people, taking notes, and being humble. There’s a lot to learn.”
Inside Raquel Harris’ toolbox: 5 Wix tools
To keep both her training and eCommerce businesses running smoothly, Harris uses these Wix tools to streamline operations and save energy for expansion.
Wix Bookings - for allowing clients to book training sessions online, offering memberships, and managing her Fight Camp schedule
Wix Shipping Labels - for printing Warm Up shipping labels straight from her Wix dashboard and enabling shipments throughout the U.S. or globally
Wix Multilingual - for translating site for multiple languages and encouraging international purchases
Wix Automations - for triggering abandoned cart emails and promotional emails
Smile Points & Rewards App - for launching a loyalty program and offering special, eye-catching rewards
Want to give Wix eCommerce a spin? Learn more about Wix's eCommerce website builder and try it for free today.
Kiera Carter
Editorial Director, Wix
Kiera is the editorial director of Wix. In a past life, she was the executive digital editor of Shape magazine and has held positions at Women’s Health, Fitness and Men’s Health. She lives, runs, boxes, and hikes in New York.
