Whitsunday Discount Marine is a Queensland-based B2B and B2C marine retailer, supplying both wholesale customers and direct consumers with products ranging from stainless steel fittings and marine plumbing to catamaran trampolines and bulk equipment.
Founded by Bruce Goldman, the business has grown into a highly efficient operation serving a wide range of customers, including marinas, charter companies, retailers, and direct consumers. In addition to its ecommerce store, the business operates a brick-and-mortar warehouse, where customers can purchase products directly.
To support this hybrid model, Bruce needed an ecommerce platform with strong inventory management, POS integration, and multichannel capabilities to manage complex products and workflows.
Since launching on Neto in 2015, Whitsunday Discount Marine has built a scalable, efficient operation, achieving consistent growth while maintaining lean processes.
Marine retail is highly specialised. Customers require precise components that must work together — whether ordering online, over the phone, or in person.
“In the marine industry, customers are very specific. They’re looking for something to go with something else. If you sell the wrong part, it won’t work ,” says Bruce Goldman, Founder and CEO of Whitsunday Discount Marine.
The business needed to:
“I sell to marinas, chandlery shops, charter companies, and direct customers. You need a system that can handle all of that,” Bruce explains.
After evaluating other ecommerce platforms, including Shopify and Magento, Neto stood out for its ability to handle complexity, provide flexibility, and offer local support.
“I looked at Shopify and Magento, but what made me choose Neto was that it could handle complex products. You can build parent products, variations, and entire product trees — and it’s easy to manage,” says Bruce Goldman, Owner of Whitsunday Discount Marine.
“I liked that I could make it my own instead of buying something off the shelf,” he adds.
In addition, having a local team was an important factor early on:
“Neto had a team based in Australia, with a strong presence in Queensland, and they were very helpful. If they didn’t know something, they would point you in the right direction or show you how to do it,” Bruce explains.
Today, Neto powers both the B2B and B2C sides of the business, managing:
1. Managing Complex Marine Products with Ease
Neto enables structured product data for highly technical inventory.
“You might have a product like a boat fender with 20 variations depending on size and use. You can build that whole structure in Neto and manage it easily,” Bruce says.
This allows the business to:
2. Kitting: Selling Complete Marine Systems
Kitting allows the business to bundle multiple components into ready-to-use solutions.
“I sell kits like bilge pump systems — that includes the pump, hose, clamps, and fittings. Neto lets me bundle it all together and price it correctly,” Bruce explains.
“When the order comes through, it prints every item on the delivery docket so staff can tick them off. It reduces mistakes — it’s a no-brainer,” he adds.
This enables:
3. Warehouse Efficiency with Barcode Inventory Management
With nearly 1,000 SKUs, efficient warehouse organisation is critical.
“Every product in my warehouse has a label on the shelf, and larger products have barcodes and descriptions printed on them. I generate all of that from Neto,” Bruce says.
“When you’ve got products like stainless steel fittings that look very similar, you can’t rely on memory. The barcodes and labels make everything easy to find,” he adds.
This enables:
4. Order Management That Supports Customer Relationships
The order management system provides full visibility across customers and orders.
“You get the customer details, what they’ve ordered, stock levels, and shipping preferences — it’s all there in one place,” Bruce says.
“You can see if they’ve bought from you before, which helps you understand the customer and provide better service,” he adds.
5. POS System Powering Warehouse & In-Person Sales
In addition to ecommerce, the business operates a warehouse with a brick-and-mortar presence, where customers can purchase products directly using Neto’s POS system.
“I love the POS because it’s simple. I use it every day in the warehouse, and it just works,” Bruce says.
The POS is central to daily operations and is used for:
“If a customer walks in and says they have an account, you just pull them up and everything is there — it goes straight into the system. It’s fantastic,” he explains.
Designed for real-world conditions:
“Up here [the Whitsundays], the internet can drop out, so I keep the POS separate from the EFTPOS terminal. That way I can still process transactions,” Bruce adds.
6. Flexible Workflows That Save Time
Neto integrates with existing workflows to improve efficiency.
“I export data into Excel, use macros or AI, and upload it back. You can update large parts of your system in 20–30 minutes,” Bruce says.
7. Clear Visibility into Profitability
Reporting provides full control over financial performance.
“The profit report is very, very good. I download it every month and get a really accurate picture of profitability,” Bruce says.
With Neto at the core of operations, Whitsunday Discount Marine has built a highly efficient hybrid business:
“My business is growing about 10% per annum, and I haven’t had a year where I’ve gone backwards,” Bruce says.
“I’ve maintained a 100% positive rating on eBay and Google. That comes down to getting the right products to customers and providing good service,” he adds.
Whitsunday Discount Marine plans to continue growing steadily while expanding its product offering and identifying new opportunities.
“I’m always looking to grow the product range — adding new lines, improving what we offer, and finding better products for customers,” says Bruce Goldman, CEO and Owner of Whitsunday Discount Marine.
“I’m happy growing at around 10% a year. It’s manageable, and it’s sustainable,” he adds.
By continuing to expand its catalogue and refine its operations, the business is well positioned for long-term, sustainable growth.
For Whitsunday Discount Marine, Neto is more than an ecommerce platform — it’s the system that runs the entire business.
“It’s like an iPhone… you get used to it, and it just works,” Bruce says.
Discover how Neto can help you manage complex products, streamline operations, and grow with confidence.