How Solo Stove scaled with the Bolt Network

How Solo Stove scaled with the Bolt Network

Solo Stove has come a long way from its humble beginnings more than 10 years ago when two brothers, Jeff and Spencer Jan, began with the idea of creating a lightweight camping stove. Their product took off in 2018 after launching the company’s first backyard bonfire stove making it the beloved household name that it is today. As more people spent time at home during the pandemic, they also sought to elevate their backyard time with friends and family by purchasing fire pits – fueling record demand for Solo Stove’s products. On the heels of astounding sales, Solo Stove’s parent company Solo Brands, consisting of men’s outdoor apparel brand Chubbies, Oru Kayak, and paddleboard company ISLE, went public last year.

"Bolt’s One-Click Checkout is specifically designed to remove the friction of a traditional checkout process. We had all the data…so that’s why it was a pretty easy choice to move forward with Bolt.”

Adapting to customer needs

When Solo Stove joined Bolt, they were already a customer-centric company with phenomenal growth and looking to improve their shopper journey. When Wilko Reinholz, VP of eCommerce at Solo Stove, started at Solo Stove in early 2021, it was clear that something needed to change with their existing “clunky” checkout process. 

As sales increased, the company faced a dilemma of abandoned carts. Reinholz and his team began analyzing their data to identify opportunities for conversion and zeroed in on the checkout process. 

“It was a pretty clear priority that something needed to change with checkout. We had tons of traffic and people interested in the product. But when you’re at that stage and something is too slow or clunky…then you see people dropping off at the checkout process, it’s obvious,” said Reinholz. Bolt’s One-Click Checkout is specifically designed to remove the friction of a traditional checkout process.  “We had all the data…Bolt outperformed in A/B testing. So that’s why it was a pretty easy choice to move forward with Bolt.” 

“From a performance standpoint, KPIs are looking good. I had high expectations, but you guys definitely got there. The support has just been outstanding.” 

All-in-one checkout solution

With an influx of orders, Solo Stove was simultaneously trying to improve conversion. Like many merchants, they began seeing fewer abandoned carts and higher conversion rates after integrating Bolt One-Click Checkout in July 2021. 

To date, Solo Stove shoppers have created more than 80K Bolt Accounts and are seeing significantly higher completion rates than guest shoppers.

“From a performance standpoint, KPIs are looking good. I had high expectations, but you guys definitely got there,” according to Reinholz. “The support has just been outstanding.” 

In addition, Solo Stove’s team also chose Bolt for its all-in-one solution with fraud protection. Before Bolt, fraud protection was handled by a separate vendor. Reinholz saw an opportunity with Bolt’s fraud protection system to implement a more seamless checkout solution. 

“For us, it was just about having all the solutions in one,” said Reinholz. “I knew checkout was a big opportunity. But then know that you have your own fraud solution and it’s implemented within the checkout. It was a no-brainer to consolidate.”

The future is global

With its latest IPO and a growing portfolio, Solo Stove is planning to harness its momentum in 2022 with a focus on expanding internationally. The company will continue its rapid growth this year with expansion into Australia and throughout Europe. Along the way, Solo Stove hopes to benefit from Bolt’s network of tens of millions of shoppers worldwide and growing. Reinholz said, “It will be interesting to see once we get more brands into the Bolt network with the same demographic. It’s going to be beneficial for us as well.”