Background

Canvas Supply, a premier online store for Framer templates, brings a variety of high-quality designs tailored for diverse niches. With a client base that has crossed the 500-customer mark in just over a year, Canvas Supply is the go-to platform for designers, founders, creators, and marketers worldwide.

We sat down with Canvas Supply co-founder Cédric to understand his transformative journey with Lemon Squeezy — a journey that catapulted his revenue from a modest $4k/year to a growing major indie success of $60k/year annually.

The challenge

Cédric Moore, the solo founder behind Canvas Supply, once grappled with the pitfalls of a growing business especially when it came to implementing payments for Framer-ecosystem products. From high fees to inadequate analytics, the challenges were adding up.

Cédric explains that “In the beginning, I ran everything on Gumroad, it was okayish until they increased their fees to 10%. That was way too much so the search for a good alternative started.”

“As a small business owner, it’s important to manage fees as you work on getting your revenue as high as possible, as fast as possible.”

When Gumroad increased their fees in early 2023, it wasn’t feasible for Canvas Supply to remain on that platform anymore. In addition to the high fees, there was no equivalent feature to the abandoned cart revenue system that Lemon Squeezy has in place.

• Roadblocks faced by high Gumroad fees
• Frustrations with checkout conversion on other platforms
• Limited features holding back growth previously
• Complexity of setting up other solutions holding back progress

The need for a better checkout experience

Cédric tells us that “Gumroad wasn't really matching my expectations of such a platform, especially because it also affected the checkout experience. For my customers, I wanted something fast, simple and reliable.”

Complex setup flow a blocker on Stripe

Cédric had considered other platforms such as Stripe, but the complexity of setting up his business on Stripe was a blocker and he instead opted to go with Lemon Squeezy thanks to in-built features which are ready to go and don’t require any additional setup.

Limited analytics detail with Gumroad

Before finding Lemon Squeezy Cédric had identified the need to have more detailed stats and analytics. This was a big pain for Cédric in analyzing business data and growing the company as he explains that with Gumroad his stats “haven't been very clearly visualized and were not very detailed to get insights from.”

Missing features required for growth

On top of a more detailed view of analytics, Cédric had the desire to run his own affiliate program and have someone handle the digital sales tax side of things, nothing else that Cédric explored had all of these tools and features ready to go in the same way as Lemon Squeezy.

The solution

Lemon Squeezy provided obvious fixes to many of the challenges that Cédric faced ... In his own words “Lemon Squeezy was the only option that could handle all requirements. Additionally, many core features were even solved better, the checkout experience is just chefs-kiss. The minimal and calm design is perfect for daily usage. Compared to the craziness of Gumroad.” And the fact that Lemon Squeezy is a Merchant of Record means that on top of everything else, we handled all digital sales taxes and VAT on behalf of Canvas Supply.

Faster checkout thanks to Lemon Squeezy

The checkout experience got simpler, felt more white-labeled, and got much faster. This improved the conversion rate and consequently the monthly growth rate of business revenue. The new abandoned cart revenue even meaningfully added revenue — a bonus on top of better and faster conversions.

Lower fees helped with quicker growth

The comparatively lower Lemon Squeezy platform fees matched Cédric’s expectations and gives him more money in his pocket at the end of every month.

Integrated affiliate tools

Cédric also always wanted his own affiliate system for Canvas Supply, but faced difficulty in getting that working smoothly inside of other existing platforms. With Lemon Squeezy, it just works right out of the box — which was a huge plus!

The results

Cédric explains some of the results that he saw, telling us that “The low fees of the platform matched my expectations and I have more money in my pocket at the end of every month. I went from roughly $4K/y to $60K/y since I switched and I'm not looking back!”

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• 40% more orders since switching to Lemon Squeezy
• 96% increase in revenue since using Lemon Squeezy
• Streamlined checkout flows and integrated features
• Sales tax and VAT taken care of by Lemon Squeezy
• A huge reduction in fees of over $2,000 per year

The all-in-one solution

Switching to Lemon Squeezy proved transformative for Canvas Supply, leading to a remarkable surge in revenue from $4,000 to $60,000 annually, marking an impressive 94% increase.

Lemon Squeezy’s streamlined checkout experience, coupled with lower fees compared to Gumroad, not only bolstered financial sustainability but also enhanced customer satisfaction.

Additionally, Lemon Squeezy's integrated features, such as the abandoned cart revenue system and affiliate program, provided added value, contributing to Canvas Supply's growth trajectory and solidifying its position as a major player in the online commerce landscape.

“I could not be happier with this change! Being able to scale my business and not needing to take care of the tax side of things is brilliant. Also having a reliable ecommerce partner like Lemon Squeezy has been so valuable since the start.”

Lemon Squeezy vs other solutions

Stripe was evaluated but ultimately was too complicated as a solution — Lemon Squeezy includes features out of the box which are predominantly upgrades and add-ons that must be managed in Stripe. Gumroad was used by Canvas Supply in the past, but feature limitations and increasing fees led to a move to Lemon Squeezy.

Cédric also noted that “The simplicity, care, and the help of the founders like Orman” made his decision to move to Lemon Squeezy that little bit sweeter.

Suggestions for improvement

We’re always listening to our customers to hear what they’d like to see on the Lemon Squeezy platform next. Cédric would love to see Product Ratings and automated email funnels on Lemon Squeezy next. The latter of which is already on our product roadmap.

Lemon Squeezy products used

Canvas Supply made use of a variety of in-built Lemon Squeezy features as part of their journey to 96% better revenue, but two features stood out as big factors in their growth; our automated Abandoned Cart Emails and our ready-to-go Affiliate feature.

Conclusion

Selling into the Framer ecosystem means selling to customers who value technical expertise and great design. For Canvas Supply, shifting to Lemon Squeezy provided a platform that shares those values and addressed key challenges founder Cédric faced with his previous platform.

His experience underscores the importance of selecting platforms that truly align with a company's needs. As Canvas Supply continues its growth journey, its story offers valuable insights for other creators both in the Framer ecosystem and in similar niches.