For many retailers, taking advantage of international markets is
key to expansion. And what better way to extend a merchant’s
overseas reach than to open up its online operation to
international shoppers? That’s exactly what apparel retailers
Jaeger, Joules and Ted Baker have done with the relaunch of their
websites.
Jaeger, the luxury-fashion brand, says its redesigned site is
part of its “long-term growth strategy” to extend its
global reach. The new site now features Jaeger’s full range, the
option to pay by euro or dollar as well as in sterling, and
delivery options for the 29 countries shipped to, including
Australia, Portugal, Turkey, the USA, and the United Arab
Emirates.
Apparel cataloguer/retailer Joules has also relaunched its
website as it looks to expand its online presence beyond the UK.
Joules says that its new site, built on the Hybris Commerce
platform, gives the business the scalability it needs to support
its growth plans and, having despatched with its previous
Microsoft ecommerce platform, reduces its ongoing maintenance
costs. Currently, online sales account for 20 percent of turnover
at Joules, but with the new website Joules aims to
“increase the online proportion of its overall
sales,” though it didn’t disclose specifics. In the year
ending 30th April 2010, Joules posted a profit of £3.6
million on turnover of £51.1 million.
Ted Baker, meanwhile, is due to unveil its US website in early
October. The designer fashion brand already sells to Europe
through its UK site, but has decided to launch a dedicated
American website to support its stateside store-opening
programme. Online orders will be fulfilled from the UK and all
customer services will be handled by the UK contact centre,
confirms a Ted Baker spokesperson.
As well as a website, Ted Baker will open a bricks-and-mortar
store in New York in early November and a store in Chicago in
mid-November.
These launches follow in the footsteps of Simply Be, the N
Brown-owned plus-size apparel catalogue. Paul Kendrick, group
development director, says the biggest challenge in launching the
brand into the US was not the logistical elements, such as
taxation and legislation, but rather getting the sizing right for
international customers. Every garment in the Simply Be range now
has to carry European, UK and US sizes, in part because, says
Kendrick, American customers didn’t like ordering what seemed to
them to be a larger size-a US size 16 is a size 18 in the
UK.
Further, prior to launch, the site’s copy had to be Americanised
for it to be optimised for US-based searches, “you can’t
get American customers to search for trousers”, he
says.
Simply Be is also very successful in Germany, where it has
experienced a 50 percent year-on-year growth since its launch in
2009. Kendrick attributes the growth to Simply Be’s strong
position. He says that the “fashionability” of Simply
Be’s plus-size offering is unrivalled in the market whereas the
group’s older-skewing titles, such as Heather Valley, face
stiffer competition.
To grow its international business, Simply Be is using direct
mail, inserts and online advertising such as pay-per-click to
acquire new customers in Germany. In the US, Simply Be has
embarked on a four-phase catalogue drop, a pay-per-click
campaign, and will soon launch an affiliate marketing programme.
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