Building a Not-So-Basic Digital Presence with Basic Cups

Iriz Manaig had been an Etsy seller for many years, when she noticed there was a gap in the Canadian marketplace to purchase blank tumblers and cups that allowed for custom designs. She wanted to make these items more accessible to crafters and small business owners, so in 2021 she launched Basic Cups with her business partner, Carloenz. Basic Cups is a blank cups and tumbler supplier that focuses on empowering people to start their own custom cup small business at the same time it advocates the use of reusable tumblers instead of disposable water bottles.

Iriz wanted their business website to reflect their family-owned and run business that prides itself on trust, and quality products. To take the the Basic Cups website to the next level, they reached out to the ShopHERE powered by Google program. The ShopHERE program offers free one-to-one support for businesses owners looking to create or enhance an existing website. The program is at no cost to the business and allows owners and operators to learn how to manage their own website and implement e-commerce solutions that work best for their businesses.

When connected with her dedicated e-commerce advisor, Iriz shared more about her business and explained the vision she had for the new website.

“(The program) provided me access to a knowledgeable person who is (an) expert in website development and had the ability to design the website how I want(ed) it to be.” 

With help from the e-commerce advisor, Iriz built a user-friendly website that meets the business's needs and reflects their values and mission.

“My website looks so professional and more user friendly and I’m confident that I will be able to convert traffic into sales,”she says.

Iriz said the experience of working with the program removed the stress of website development and she said the process was “super smooth” with the help of her “very knowledgeable” advisor.

Iriz reflected that aside from having a new website, the most important piece of knowledge she gained from the ShopHERE program was about the best practices for search engine optimization (SEO). Iriz said she is already seeing the impact of optimizing her SEO along with the new website, saying

“I noticed that my shop converts (more) customers. I used to rely a lot on social media to drive traffic to my website, now with my new website, the conversion rate is higher.”

Overall, Iriz rated her experience with the ShopHERE program as a 5/5, and felt it was extremely beneficial to her business. She shared:

“(There is) no need to be blind in the digital world we now live in. (The) ShopHERE program lets people embrace the fast-growing e-commerce (world).”

To visit Basic Cups’ new online store, click here. To learn more about the ShopHERE powered by Google program and their services, click here.