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Case Study · Home & Living · E-Commerce B2C

Lichterketten: From 50 to 1,500 orders in a month

Lichterketten had the ambition to become Switzerland's go-to destination for fairy lights and solar lamps, but the business first needed to find out what customers would actually buy profitably. R17 tested the product range, identified a high-performing niche, tackled the seasonality of the category and expanded the strongest channels. Within six months, monthly orders grew from 50 to 1,500, and R17 became a shareholder in the business.

+1000%

year-to-year revenue growth

2x

more products in the shop

>&250K

media spend

The situation

Lichterketten Shop had built a broad range of fairy lights, solar lamps and accessories, with ambitions to become the first point of contact for these products in Switzerland.When R17 came on board in January 2021, the challenge was not simply driving more visitors to the site. We needed to understand which products and categories could generate profitable sales, while dealing with a major seasonal swing: search demand for the core product range dropped by around 80% between September and March.

The call

Find the products that can carry the business

Rather than spreading budget across the entire catalogue, R17 focused on finding the pockets of demand where the economics made sense.Extensive testing across Facebook revealed solar lanterns as a particularly strong niche, while Google Ads provided a stable source of demand. From there, the strategy expanded beyond the obvious peak season. We introduced a Christmas collection and pre-selling solar lanterns between January and March to keep demand moving throughout the year.

The work

Test, adapt, then put more effort & spend behind what works

01

Find the profitable products

We tested different product categories and collections on Facebook to identify where profitable sales could be generated. Solar lanterns emerged as a standout opportunity, with the potential to anchor further growth.

02

Make seasonality work harder

The business faced an 80% drop in search demand from September to March. Rather than accepting the seasonal dip, we introduced a Christmas collection and brought forward the sale of solar lanterns with a January-to-March pre-sale.

03

Build across the strongest channels

With clearer evidence around what was working, we expanded paid media across Facebook, Google and Pinterest. Each platform contributed to a broader customer growth strategy, with investment increasingly directed towards the strongest opportunities.

04

Turn six months of growth into a deeper partnership

The results created enough confidence for both sides to take the relationship further. Just three months into the partnership, founder Thomas Harder and R17 decided to deepen their involvement, with R17 becoming a shareholder in July 2021.

The results

From a side hustle to serious e-commerce business

  • 50 to 1,500 monthly orders
  • +1,000% year-on-year revenue growth
  • 2x more products in the shop
  • R17 became a shareholder
The team at R17 has helped me transform my company from "side-hustle" to a real business. I appreciate their entrepreneurial understanding and their in-depth knowledge of performance marketing.
Thomas Harder
Founder & Ex-CEO, Lichterketten Shop AG

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