How This Company Is Helping Ecommerce Brands Scale and Grow

The co-founder of 8fig shares how his platform is helping online sellers plan and execute their growth around their supply-chain needs.

learn more about Jessica Abo

By Jessica Abo

When Yaron Shapira launched 8fig with his co-founders, he wanted to solve one problem: democratizing the ecommerce ecosystem. He sat down with Jessica Abo to discuss how his platform is providing the planning tools to help online sellers plan and execute their growth.

Related: A Beginner's Guide to Building a Profitable Ecommerce Business

Yaron, what can you tell us about 8fig and the role your company plays in serving ecommerce businesses?

Ecommerce is what all of us are doing, all the time. We are buying stuff online. Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, wherever. The goods are being provided to us mostly by third parties, which are very small businesses. These are the ecommerce sellers. They are the real backbone of the ecommerce revolution. These are extremely small businesses, extremely. Two, three, four, five people — that's it. But they need someone to help them to grow. What 8fig is doing is democratizing the ecommerce ecosystem. We create the planning tools to help them plan their growth and execute it.

What would you say are the day-to-day struggles that ecommerce businesses are facing, and how is 8fig helping to solve those problems?

It's all about the supply chain and how long the supply chain is. They need to pay deposits to their manufacturers, then pay the balance; pay for freight, pay for the shipping, handle the extremely long delays in shipping, high costs and changing costs. All their lines of businesses are being changed, and on the fly, as they grow. If you are an ecommerce seller, you can sell online and you can grow extremely fast. You are getting some traction; you are getting some good reviews. As you can grow fast, you can shrink fast. If you grow fast, you need to invest a lot in getting more inventory, but if you shrink, you are stuck with a lot of inventory. This volatile business creates huge threats on a small business that is trying to grow. Now, if that business does not have a planning tool with the ability to adjust the plan as they grow, they'll find it extremely hard to actually grow their businesses.

Related: Ecommerce Acceleration Is the Future. Don't Get Left Behind.

What advice do you have to help ecommerce businesses battle through this wave of inflation?

They need to understand how profitable they are, and if they are profitable. They need to go into the bits and bites of every batch that they are ordering from their manufacturers. What is the cost of shipping? What is the cost of advertising? What are their revenues? When are the revenues coming in? It's a lot of details that they need to know. If they know this calculation, this breakdown, then they can overcome the changes that they are experiencing every day. Delays in manufacturing, defects that might happen to their inventory, delays in shipment, significant increase in shipment costs. If they know the bits and bites of their financing, they will be able to overcome it.

Jessica Abo

Entrepreneur Staff

Media Trainer, Keynote Speaker, and Author

JESSICA ABO is a media trainer, keynote speaker, and bestselling author who uses her 20+ years of TV news experience to help entrepreneurs, C-Suite executives, celebrities, and philanthropists share their stories with the world. An award-winning journalist, Jessica has presented all over the country including at TEDx, Facebook, Microsoft, Delta Airlines, WW, and the United Nations. She has appeared on The TODAY Show, ABC News, Access Hollywood, KTLA, CBS, and NY1 and in Forbes, Fast Company, and Women's Health.  Her debut book Unfiltered: How To Be As Happy As You Look On Social Media sold out on its first day and empowers readers with tools they can use to take back their happiness IRL (in real life).

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

Everyone Wants to Get Close to Their Favorite Artist. Here's the Technology Making It a Reality — But Better.
The Highest-Paid, Highest-Profile People in Every Field Know This Communication Strategy
After Early Rejection From Publishers, This Author Self-Published Her Book and Sold More Than 500,000 Copies. Here's How She Did It.
Having Trouble Speaking Up in Meetings? Try This Strategy.
He Names Brands for Amazon, Meta and Forever 21, and Says This Is the Big Blank Space in the Naming Game
Business News

These Are the Most and Least Affordable Places to Retire in The U.S.

The Northeast and West Coast are the least affordable, while areas in the Mountain State region tend to be ideal for retirees on a budget.

Living

8 Things I Discovered While Working With Affluent Clients in New York City

After a decade working with the 1%, I learned that they have common traits.

Travel

6 Secret Tools for Flying First Class (Without Paying Full Price)

It's time to reimagine upgrading. Here's how to fly first class on every flight, business or personal.

Thought Leaders

The Collapse of Credit Suisse: A Cautionary Tale of Resistance to Hybrid Work

This cautionary tale serves as a reminder for business leaders to adapt to the changing world of work and prioritize their workforce's needs and preferences.

Business News

I Live on a Cruise Ship for Half of the Year. Look Inside My 336-Square-Foot Cabin with Wraparound Balcony.

I live on a cruise ship with my husband, who works on it, for six months out of the year. Life at "home" can be tight. Here's what it's really like living on a cruise ship.

Starting a Business

A Founder Who Bootstrapped Her Jewelry Business with Just $1,000 Now Sees 7-Figure Revenue Because She Knew Something About Her Customers Nobody Else Did

Meg Strachan, founder and CEO of lab-grown jewelry company Dorsey, personally packed and shipped every order until she hit $1 million in sales.