{"id":15602,"date":"2024-07-24T13:09:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T09:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cs-cart.com\/blog\/?p=15602"},"modified":"2025-08-08T12:22:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T08:22:44","slug":"case-study-tackletarts-a-custom-fishing-marketplace-on-cs-cart-built-in-1-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cs-cart.com\/blog\/case-study-tackletarts-a-custom-fishing-marketplace-on-cs-cart-built-in-1-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: TackleTarts\u2014a Custom Fishing Marketplace on CS-Cart Built in 1 Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TackleTarts<\/a> is a fishing tackle marketplace founded in 2019 by a team with a passion for fishing. David, one of the founders, recognized a gap in the market\u2014there was no one-stop-shop for all the fishing gear and tackle that enthusiasts needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industry was also lacking in technological advancement, as most fishing tackle shops were not run by tech-savvy individuals. This presented an opportunity to create an online marketplace that could serve the needs of both vendors and customers in the fishing industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"David<\/figure>
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“There was never a one-stop shop to buy all the different types of fishing tackle that I needed. I had to go to platform A, platform B, platform C. And also the industry itself is not very technologically advanced because most people who run a fishing tackle shop, they are not technologists.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Oak, a Cofounder of TackleTarts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>From Idea to Launch<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The founders started small, building a minimal viable product (MVP) in just 9 months to test the market and see if vendors and customers would be interested. During this time, they scaled the business from \u00a30 to \u00a3100 per month in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the potential, they then sought investment to build a niche marketplace, which took about a year to develop. This allowed them to onboard more vendors, expand the product catalog, and prepare for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n “We scaled something from, like, \u00a30 per month to about \u00a3100 in about 9 months. After we hit that milestone, we were like, okay, we’re onto something potentially quite big here”.\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/span>Development and Customization<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While CS-Cart provided a good foundation for a multivendor marketplace<\/a>, the platform required customization to fit the specific needs of TackleTarts. The CEO noted that no off-the-shelf solution can perfectly address every business requirement, so they had to build custom development pipelines to adapt CS-Cart to their model. This included simplifying the vendor panels for better onboarding of new sellers, configuring payment systems (Mango Pay and PayPal<\/a>), and integrating the review systems (Trustpilot and Google Reviews) to create a modern, standalone management platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n “It doesn’t matter what software you’re looking at, whether it’s CS-Cart or something else. Don’t go in expecting that the software you choose is going to solve every problem for you. Everything needs customization because it’s impossible as a software developer, development house, to build a solution that fits everybody’s requirements or everybody’s use case”.\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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CS-Cart Tip:<\/b> In January 2024, we revamped the vendor dashboard to make it simple and intuitive for new sellers right out of the box. In a recent update<\/a>, we also added Mangopay, while PayPal has been integrated into our software for a long time. And Google Reviews can be quickly integrated with an add-on<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Expansion and Challenges<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As TackleTarts grew, the team faced challenges in scaling the business, such as balancing increased costs with the need for more staff and technology. They also had to continuously optimize their marketing strategies, focusing on key metrics like customer acquisition cost and average order value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building trust with both vendors and customers was another crucial aspect, which they addressed through features like the “TackleTarts Guarantee” and integrations with review platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TackleTarts<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

TackleTarts Guarantee Page<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Integration<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Integration with Google Reviews<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Key Features and Support<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The multivendor capabilities of CS-Cart<\/a> were a key feature that enabled TackleTarts to onboard a wide range of fishing tackle suppliers. However, the CEO notes that the platform’s vendor panel and product management tools needed to be adapted for the business requirements, leading them to explore building a custom management platform using the CS-Cart API.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Achievements and Future Plans<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

TackleTarts was able to launch its marketplace within the first year and achieve its first sales on the very first day. Over the course of 2\u20133 years, the company grew to a significant size, with thousands of products, hundreds of vendors, and a thriving customer base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking to the future, the team is focused on expanding their C2C selling capabilities, improving the vendor experience, and potentially developing a standalone CS-Cart management platform as a SaaS offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Achieved<\/figure>
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Achieved first sales on the very first day after the MVP launch.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Advice for New Entrepreneurs<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David shares several key pieces of advice for new entrepreneurs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n