Southern Ontario DMS Short Takes – Ebb & Flo, Brockville & Ottawa

Ebb & Flo specializes in “the art of she,” with a lineup of Canadian and European fashions, accessories and beauty products that are sustainable, natural and enduring. This family-operated boutique retailer opened its first location in downtown Brockville in 2015 and its second in Ottawa four years later.

While its locations feature upscale and fashion-forward inventory, Ebb & Flo still lacked a strong online presence before the pandemic to drive e-commerce sales. Faced with the competitive threat from larger retailers with deeper pockets, owner Sherry Wallace turned to Digital Main Street to reach more consumers through social media and for help with general marketing development.

With the support of her Digital Transformation Grant and the local DMS Digital Service Squad, Sherry invested in a new social media and digital marketing campaign, search engine marketing (SEM) to attract more web visitors and new video to enrich the online experience. Her goal is to increase online sales by 40 per cent as well as bring more foot-traffic back to her physical locations as lockdown measures ease.

“We are all struggling – emotionally, financially, and physically – as small business owners,” Sherry said. “DMS is helping us evolve to make it through these difficult times. Our stores and employees are grateful for the opportunity DMS gave us to increase our advertising and awareness campaigns online, not just on a provincial level, but on a national level.”