The arrival of Amazon in Australia might have worried some retailers in the country – but not the Burkitt family.
Dale and his wife Michaela created their Checkered Chef brand of kitchenware after being inspired by their eldest son Joshua.
The 15-year-old, who has autism, is home-schooled and enjoys cooking during the day and using a plethora of products in the kitchen to whip up meals.
The Burkitts have been so successful selling their Checkered Chef kitchen products on Amazon’s US site they decided to get their children involved in the business too.
‘Six months ago, Michaela and I had a chat and said because we were doing so well, it was time to teach the kids about Amazon,’ Mr Burkitt told Daily Mail Australia.
Dale Burkitt and wife Michaela decided to make selling on Amazon a family business (pictured from left to right: Joshua, Dale, Matthew, Michaela and Becky)
The Burkitt family sell around 100,000 units of their kitchenware on Amazon US every year
‘We sat them down and and explained how to pick a product with a high turnover and a big margin.
‘We showed them how to research on the US site, how to look at what is selling well, and what we could sell that would be an improvement of what’s already available,’ he said.
Amazon launched in Australia last week and thousands of local sellers signed up.
But Mr Burkitt says he and his family already sell around 100,000 units on the US version of site every year.
‘Amazon is our full-time family business,’ he said.
‘I’ve tried a lot of different things over the years, but my cousin came to me a few years ago and said let’s do a course on how to sell on Amazon. It taught us everything from how to look for products, how to sell them and how to brand.’
He added: ‘Josh was doing a lot of home cooking at the time and using lots of things in the kitchen and that’s how we came up with the idea.
The couple were inspired to create their Checkered Chef brand by son Joshua (pictured)
When the children came to pick their products Joshua settled on 12-packs of electrical tapes while Becky, 13, chose a soft toy unicorn.
Their youngest son Matthew, picked flying rings and triangles and Mr Burkitt said the 10-year-old is ‘the real businessman’.
‘He’s just like me, a real entrepreneur. He’s created his own brand MOB 9. Josh is too because he is home schooled and sees a lot of what goes on. He also does a lot of the IT stuff. Becky wasn’t so keen initially but came round once she’d picked her product.
Matthew (pictured with his sister Becky) chose to sell flying rings and triangles on Amazon
‘She hasn’t started selling yet because she wants her toy to look just right. This is important because if the smile on the unicorn isn’t happy, or even look slightly miserable, nobody will want to buy it. If we get the detail just right we could sell up to 20 more items of that product a day in the US.’
The father-of-three confessed to slow Australian sales despite Amazon’s arrival in the country.
‘That’ll change within the next two years,’ Mr Burkitt said. ‘Once Australian’s realise what is on there. Most people just think Amazon sells books. Australian’s wouldn’t think to buy a rolling pin from there.
One of the family’s best sellers is the Pizza Cutter Sharp Rocker Blade for $15.95 (pictured)
‘In the lead up to Christmas we’ve been selling between 800-900 units of kitchenware a day.
‘Out best seller is the rocker pizza cutter – it has a big blade that you push down. It’s must better and easier than a pizza wheel.
‘I’d like to think we’d become one of the best kitchen brands in Australia. We’ve done it in America. The amount we sell over there blows our minds.
‘Once Australian’s realise what Amazon can offer them we’ll be flying,’ he said.
Dale describes his youngest son Matthew as ‘the real businessman’ (pictured with flying rings)
While some worry that Amazon will kill local businesses, Mr Burkitt says the retail giant does nothing but help ‘the little guys’.
‘I’m a small business and small businesses can sell on Amazon. It’s only like when Bunnings came along and killed off all the little hardware stores.’
Amazon is a platform where you can sell your goods as a small business. It’s even better because you don’t need to rent a shop, or sign a $50,000 lease, or set up a website and nobody look at it,’ he added.
One of the first products the Burkitt’s sold on Amazon was the Cooling Rack (pictured)
Mr Burkitt has worked a number of jobs over the years including as a landscape gardener and ran small clothes shops. He says despite growing up without a computer, he, along with his wife have put in the hours and made Amazon a success for them.
‘I said to my daughter Becky, isn’t it amazing how despite never growing up with the internet we now have a business that manufactures in China, sells in America… and I’ve never even left Australia!
‘I always said I’d change professions every year but Amazon is working very well for us, so I don’t think I’ll be changing professions any time soon,’ Mr Burkitt said.