A Piece of Turkey From Ceren Korsal Jewellery
Established in October 2017 and based in Toronto, Ceren Korsal brings together the most authentic and high-quality items that are carefully crafted by Turkish artists. While some artists come from remote areas of Turkey, other designers are based right here in Toronto. Ceren selects every artist carefully to ensure they are environmentally conscious and only practice ethical labour. The brand also promises affordable prices for its top-selling colourful cushion covers and natural stone jewellery pieces. On the new website, you can find everything from necklaces to earrings and bracelets.
Before joining the ShopHERE Program Powered by Google, Ceren already administered an online store but it wasn’t generating enough traffic. “For me, the major advantage of being a part of such a great project was to learn some of the most intricate marketing techniques and know-how to make my website look appealing,” commented Ceren.
“From an amazing team of experts, I have learned much-needed tricks to increase traffic on my site. The new design of my online store is also very attractive and I’ve been receiving fantastic feedback.”
On the new website, you can find short stories on featured artists such as Adem from Alaçatı, Turkey’s Çeşme Peninsula. Adem finds inspiration from his hometown, known for its beaches and old stone houses. The artist makes bracelets for men from quality leather and nautical rope including strong buckles that represent the adventurous spirit of the region. Ceren Korsal also features other artists such as Burcu Batmaz who recently launched her eco-conscious jewellery line of wearable art.
Although Ceren loves the website she admitted that setting up your first Shopify store can be a challenge: “It is very time-consuming and easy to make mistakes that can ruin the whole look of the site.” But with the support of the ShopHERE community, any website-related questions were resolved quickly and Ceren could stay focused to complete her online store quickly.
“I appreciate all the Coordinator's passionate hard work and must thank all the providers such as Shopify, Government of Canada, Google and many more partners for making this program available and easily accessible.”
When asked about why other businesses should consider the ShopHERE Program, Ceren said: “ShopHERE is a great opportunity to learn how to build an attractive, functioning website for small businesses. Many people pay large sums of money to get this support but ShopHERE is free and as a bonus provides credits to use towards Facebook and Google Ads.” To get even more out of the Shopify features, Ceren also included an option for selling gift cards, which can be a great way to continue to support your favourite local business.
Ceren Korsal is a fantastic example of a small business that already had a website, but still greatly benefited from the free ShopHERE Program. If you’re interested in the program or know anyone who might be, check it out for more details. Experience Turkey through Ceren Korsal, and bring home a souvenir today.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.
A $42.5-million investment from FedDev Ontario brought together the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses going digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19 in Southern Ontario.
