Stories

After gifting Brass Butterfly Rooter Vases to friends and family and seeing the joy they brought, Anne Hadeka aspired to purchase the Vermont-based business from a family friend so she could expand it to a wider audience, bringing the simple beauty of growing and displaying plants into more homes. In 2021, Anne and her husband bought the business and since then, have been focused on growing their customer base.

_{Round Plant Propagation Rooter Vase from Brass Butterfly}

Like many small business owners, Anne has had to navigate the increasingly crowded e-commerce landscape, looking for unique ways to connect with new prosects, differentiate her business from larger competitors, showcase to customers that her brand is one that can be trusted, and drive sales.

While the business continues to see organic growth, it also relies on popular online marketplaces to connect with customers. These platforms have been crucial in driving traffic to their website, which serves as the business’s main hub. With no physical storefront, Brass Butterfly operates fully online, making digital marketing a key focus. However, like many small businesses, Anne faces the ongoing challenge of effectively marketing without a big budget or massive team.

They also face the common challenge of getting shoppers on their site to actually convert. With the U.S. ecommerce website conversion rate at approximately 2.6%, getting customers to convert is a common challenge for any business. To help drive conversions, Brass Butterfly turned to PayPal.

“PayPal's trusted name and reputation in the payments space were key factors in why we chose PayPal. For us, it was the only choice. It’s easy, it’s reliable, and most importantly, it brings us credibility and trust with our customers,” Anne shared, adding that most of Brass Butterfly’s customers prefer using PayPal to pay for their purchases, which makes Anne feel confident that they are providing a secure and convenient shopping experience.

_{Heart Plant Propagation Rooter Vase from Brass Butterfly}

By linking PayPal Complete Payments through their BigCommerce store, “the integration was simple, and transactions run smoothly,” Anne shared, allowing her to dedicate her time and energy to better serving her customers.

One of the latest additions to Brass Butterfly's checkout experience is PayPal’s accelerated guest checkout solution, Fastlane by PayPal. Anne shared that integrating Fastlane through BigCommerce was a breeze, and they immediately noticed an uptick in sales with their guest checkout experience. “Anything that makes checkout faster and easier, we’re excited about,” she shared. By reducing friction during the purchasing process, Fastlane has helped create a smoother experience for new customers, leading to more completed sales.

For Anne, working with PayPal has been a seamless experience that allows them to focus on what really matters: their customers and the beautiful designs that make their products unique. As an online business, managing payments and checkout processes can be a hassle. But with PayPal, Anne shared that she “doesn’t have to worry about whether her payment system will work — it just does.”

Looking ahead to 2025, Anne has big plans for Brass Butterfly. She wants the company to become the shopping destination for all rooting needs, expanding their product offerings and refining their inventory based on insights and backend reporting from PayPal.

_{Double Heart Hanging Plant Rooting Vase from Brass Butterfly}

By leveraging PayPal's reporting insights, Anne plans to better understand which products are selling out quickly and doubling down on those products, while phasing out other products that aren’t as popular with her customers. This data-driven approach will help streamline Brass Butterfly’s product offerings and ensure they continue meeting customer demand.

As the husband-and-wife duo plan for 2025, they are focused on expanding into the wedding market, recognizing that their elegant rooting vases make for exceptional and unique wedding gifts. With PayPal's insights and tools at their disposal, Brass Butterfly is confident that they can cater to this market effectively.

While Brass Butterfly is currently leveraging PayPal’s tools to accept payments from customers, in the new year they want to start leveraging PayPal to help manage vendor payments, further simplifying their operations and streamlining their workflow.

“Anything that can help us run our business more smoothly, whether it’s payments, inventory insights, or managing vendor relationships, is something we’re excited to explore,” Anne shared.