The idea for the business came upon McCormack by chance. The young entrepreneur used eBay to sell some carpets for his car and found they sold for twice the price he had originally paid for them. Following this success, the Newry man decided to see if that sales method could be combined with his lifelong passion for PCs and laptops. The results have been impressive.
Reaching out
The first thing that hit McCormack when he set up the firm's eBay shop, which goes under the name TheLaptopStore on the website, was the wide variety of people that bought his products. "We get a mix of business and home users. Some people buy them for travelling, others for work, and we've also had a lot of elderly customers," says McCormack.
The orders come from far and wide, with the firm shipping laptops as far as the US, Australia and Pakistan. The level of business from mainland Europe has also increased in recent times. McCormack says setting up the store on eBay has helped the firm develop these international markets. "You have the potential to reach millions of customers," he says. Due to the success of the firm in developing sales internationally, Dr Computer Biz was named 'Irish eBay seller of the year' in 2007.
The business had initially experimented with running its own eCommerce website on top of the eBay operation, but this proved less successful. McCormack says the costs involved in advertising the site and the lower number of visitors in comparison with the eBay store meant it made sense to abandon the separate eCommerce site.
McCormack reckons having a presence on eBay opened the firm up to a wider client base than a regular online store could attract. "I used to work for a forklift company and I sold some of the machinery the firm had on eBay," he says. McCormack found that selling on eBay resulted in a lot of firms - from both Ireland and overseas - contacting the forklift company about doing business.
"If you put something up for sale on eBay you'll make contacts," he says. "It's not all about selling goods. Having a presence on eBay helps businesses to network and raise awareness about their company."
Growing pains
McCormack has always had a strong interest in computers and has been selling laptops in some shape or form since he was 16 years old. "I was always messing around with computers when I was younger," he says. "I started buying and selling laptops when my mother asked me to find one to buy my sister for Christmas. Then my auntie wanted one too and it all spiralled from there."
A decade on, McCormack has developed a business that places customer needs at the forefront of its operation. A year ago the firm experimented with a customer relationship management (CRM) system to better process queries from clients. The business found that while the system made it easier to manage queries, customers were dissatisfied with the service. The firm's clients preferred to email or phone the firm directly, so McCormack decided to go back to using these methods.
Expansion plans
The long term plan for Dr Computer Biz is to stick with the eBay store as the firm's sole method of selling products. McCormack plans to increase the selection of products available by adding desktop PCs to the store.
The business initially experimented with this when the eBay store was first established, but delivering desktop PCs proved problematic due to the size of the monitors. But now the greater availability of flat screen monitors has made McCormack revisit the idea. "We're looking to branch out into [desktop] PCs. Flat screen monitors aren't as bulky so it would be possible to put the entire PC into one box for delivery," he says.
As part of the expansion, McCormack plans to redevelop the firm's eBay store to make it more aesthetically pleasing. He says developing an effective eBay presence is a straightforward process and that Irish SMEs should look into selling online through the retail website. "It's relatively easy to get up and running and [eBay] is also working to make it easier for businesses to set up online stores," says McCormack.
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