StORES Magazine - September 2007 - (Page 48) EXECUTIVE SUITE / E-COMMERCE Seeking the next new thing “Fashionistas” visit luxury designer sites more frequently than regular shoppers, hoping to get a peek at the next new thing. Designers ship new apparel to eFashionSolutions biweekly or monthly, he says, because these high-end customers really “want newness constantly on the site, and they’re looking for special fashion-driven products vs. your basic commodity items. We literally see a spike in sales whenever we get a new shipment.” Bernt Ullman, president of lifestyle clothiers Phat Farm and Baby Phat and a former executive of DKNY, says designers have become so good at offering “new things” that “quite frankly, it’s funny. We have solved that piece so well online that it’s actually becoming a challenge in some of our international businesses. “We now have products available online before they show up with any of our international distributors,” he says. Then there’s perhaps the biggest challenge of all: Convincing a customer to buy premium clothing without making sure it fits. The answer to this quandary is good photography, Foy says. That mentality has helped procure a 13 percent return rate for his clients. “We don’t just put a photographer in there with a camera in his hand,” he says. “The photographer has … a stylist that’s saying, “O.K. model, here’s what I want you doing. Photographer, make sure you get this highlight right here -- this tripleneedle stitching is key.’ “Consumers of fashion want an emotional connect,” Foy says. “That all happens visually as much as it happens from a content point of view.” Because they receive complete management services, the retailers and designers that work with eFashionSolutions are able to focus on merchandise and marketing strategies. “We put together a buy and the client helps to determine what’s going on with the trends, what they see as the opportunity for a merchandise strategy point of view,” Foy says. “We come up with a point-of-sale strategy, a promotional calendar and plan the business from a retail flow point of view. What are the inventory levels going to be month to month? What’s the activity going to be, both with sales and the returns?” Marketing clothing online is no different from any other product, says Rodger Roeser, spokesman for American Joe’s, a pure-play e-commerce clothing company. “Retailers think they can take a picture with their digital 48 STORES / SEPTEMBER 2007 cameras, pop it up online and get it out over the Internet and all of a sudden millions of people are going to be flocking to their site to buy,” he says. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Just like your marketing in a store, your site has to be extraordinarily easy to navigate.” Foy says the same rules apply for luxury customers, who are reached through search-engine optimization and marketing, promotional emails, affiliated network marketing and web advertising. Online marketing also has an incredible return on investment for designers, Ullman says. While he won’t divulge his ROI, he says, “It’s incredible for every dollar you spend [online] the type of return you get in increased volume when you do targeted online marketing.” Phat Farm and Baby Phat also benefit from celebrity marketing from Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons, who own the labels. Russell Simmons is a music impresario; Kimora Lee Simmons is a former model. “We frequently have Russell and Kimora’s picks and recommendations, which always spike sales,” Ullman says. Online trend forum Some designers are making their sites interactive. Belisi Fashions, a luxury designer offering Italian silk ties, pocket squares and scarves at Belisi.com, recently launched an online forum that allows discriminating consumers to obtain “valuable fashion advice and keep up with the trends.” “There are plenty of websites where you can buy accessories, but few where you feel like you’re a part of a fashion community,” founder Peter Belisi says. Much like video killed the radio star, some traditional retailers are seeing profits siphoned off by e-commerce competitors. Forrester predicts that 10 percent of all clothing sales will be transacted online this year; for some designers, the ratio of online sales already is much higher (Phat Farm, for instance, generates 40 percent of its sales online). And those ratios should continue to trend upward as Generations X and Y begin to make more money, Starnes says. But Ullman doesn’t see online clothing sales replacing traditional department and specialty apparel stores. “There will always be a consumer who is going to want to have that in-store StORES experience,” he says. Fred Minnick is a professional writer based in Louisville, Ky. WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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