Hawkers is one of the top sunglasses manufacturers and dealers in the world. The Origin of the company traces back to 2013 when it began as a small-scale online-based resale business. The Hawkers’ president, Alejandro Betancourt, has since applied his unique leadership skills in ensuring the rapid growth of the organization.
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At its founding, Alejandro Betancourt, his brother, and two of their friends struggled with their resale website, Saldum. The online store provided a platform where people could buy secondhand Knock-around sunglasses, which were so popular during those times. In response to the resale business’s poor performance, the four entrepreneurs resorted to developing and selling similar websites to other companies.
Their business was experiencing immense competition from already established international brands like Ray-Ban and Gucci. To overcome this, Alejandro and his partners decided to manufacture top quality and environmentally friendly sunglasses and then sell them at more affordable prices. Consequently, Hawkers continued to record tremendous growth rates, and in 2016, Alejandro ascended to become its president.
Alejandro’s Unique Management and Marketing Skills
Being the largest shareholder and Hawkers president, Alejandro Betancourt had to take care of its increased operational and marketing needs. One of the major problems was their online system which became too obsolete to process and manage the increased clients’ requests. The system was too slow and could only show whether a given order had been shipped or not. This cost the company some of its customers, and the president had to do something.
To address the technical challenges with the website platform, Alejandro Betancourt decided to partner with Shopify – and the result was incredibly great. As for online marketing, the president embraced the use of influencers. It involved identifying a potential person with a massive following on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They’d then be offered the sunglasses, take shots while wearing them, then posting on social media.
The other marketing technique that earned the company abrupt international recognition is the use of campus representatives. In this case, a popular student would be identified and then given the glasses to put on when attending various school functions. The campus reps got free tickets to popular festivals in return. With Alejandro Betancourt still as the president, the company is still expected to expand further in the years ahead.