How Thistle Tavern grew to two shops and £1m turnover in Year 1.
In this case study
The Client
At a Glance
Thistle Tavern began as a passion project, bringing card and board game fans together in a shop on Aberdeen’s Union Street. As the business grew, Stuart and Andrew needed their website to help more customers discover their products and buy online.
With Add People bringing the website, Google Ads and SEO together, Thistle Tavern reached £1m in turnover in its first year, opened a second shop in Edinburgh and generated £18.34 in revenue for every £1 spent on Google Ads.
CLIENT
Thistle Tavern
FOCUS
More online sales
The Opportunity
Thistle Tavern had a strong product range and a community of customers who loved the games they sold. Flesh and Blood was already their biggest seller, followed by Pokémon, with board games offering another opportunity to grow.
But customers couldn’t easily find these products online, and the website wasn’t turning enough visitors into buyers.
Thistle Tavern needed to make shopping online easier and help more people discover the products they were looking for.
What We Did
The Solution
We brought the website, Google Ads and SEO together to help more customers find Thistle Tavern’s products and buy online.
The result? More online sales and another way to grow the business.
1.
Make the website easier to shop
Before bringing more people to the website, we needed to make it easier for them to find the products they wanted, browse the range and buy.
2.
Get products in front of shoppers
Google Ads helped put popular trading card products and new releases in front of people ready to buy, bringing in sales from the early weeks of the campaign.
3.
Build visibility that lasts
We used what we learned from Google Ads to focus SEO on proven sellers like Flesh and Blood and Pokémon, helping more customers find Thistle Tavern through Google over time.
The Results
More customers. More sales. More growth.
Thistle Tavern reached £1m in turnover in its first year and went on to open a second shop in Edinburgh. The growth also brought a personal milestone for Stuart, who left his job to work in the business full-time.
Its online presence has grown too, with more than 5,000 organic users visiting the website each month and over 1,200 keywords ranking across its product pages.
As the business has expanded, so has our partnership. In May 2026, we added social media to help Thistle Tavern connect with the trading card communities that love its products and support growth across both locations.
5,000+
People finding Thistle Tavern
through Google each month.
1,200+
Google searches where their products now rank.
90,000+
Times they appeared in Google in one month.
57.89%+
More revenue from
Google Ads.
The Client's View
Finally, a word from the client:
“I have been exceptionally impressed with the team members I have had the pleasure of working with so far. Our account managers and development team are all highly enthusiastic and professional.”
Stuart Robb, Co-owner of Thistle Tavern
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