BeCheeky, the online lingerie retailer, has seen its losses halve during the 2009/10 fiscal year and turnover increase by 21 per cent. The etailer turned around its fortunes after a tough year that saw co-founders James and Sarah Akin-Smith leave the business. In fact, BeCheeky now employs just a third of the staff it used to after the recession forced the company to make sweeping redundancies across its operations.
Today, however, BeCheeky is close to securing another fundraising round and has successfully cleared its debts, restructured and refocused.
At the helm now is Justine Wyness, formerly the company’s head of marketing and sales. The company also has a new buyer leading a redefined buying strategy. Kevin O’Neill joined the business in March from Beales department stores where he was ladieswear and accessories group buyer. BeCheeky is still backed by YFM Group, an investor in the small and midsize enterprise marketplace managed by South West Ventures Fund, and Rockridge, a fund set up by SportingBet founder Mark Blandford.
More of what they want
As part of the new direction, Wyness explains BeCheeky is buying more of what people want by finding out what they are searching for online. Previously, BeCheeky sourced niche brands from overseas. According to Wyness, this meant that visitors to the BeCheeky website were greeted with unfamiliar brand names. The new strategy of showing customers the “cheekier” lines from more established and more familiar labels like Gossard, she says, gives BeCheeky “a stamp of approval” and increases consumer confidence. Another tactic the business now employs is stocking more of the most popular sizes, and stocking more British designers. Staying true to its USP of providing more risque lingerie, it has recently introduced a more revealing range called BeNaughty.
To grow the business and drum up awareness, Wyness is ramping up consumer PR and investing more in email marketing. Using email
marketing agency Pinehearst Digital, BeCheeky sends a “trends” email once a week containing details on new products and the latest fashion must-haves. It also sends a special-offer email every Friday that is either used to promote a sale or clearance item or a supplier-funded promotion. BeCheeky also segments its email database and has a sign-up box for men’s and women’s themed emails on its home page. Wyness says that its email marketing efforts now deliver 375 per cent more revenue than the previous year.
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