Footwear brand FitFlop is entering the direct-selling market with
a new ecommerce website. Currently, the Venda-built site is
transactional only in the UK, but FitFlop plans to extend its
ecommerce reach to Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands
early next year. Managing director Scott Thomson says a US site
is also in the planning, but as the company was still in the
process of setting up its US office, a launch date for the site
was at least eight months away.
Before opening up online, FitFlop carried out some “online
housekeeping”, says Thomson, referring to the process of
removing its products from sellers that did not adhere to its
brand standards regarding copy, images and seasonality. It then
communicated with its network of retail partners and agreed not
to undercut them when selling direct to the end-user. Thomson
says that FitFlop assured its partners that it wouldn’t have an
unfair advantage on lead time, that it would charge for postage,
that it wouldn’t run promotions other than the standard end of
summer/end of winter sale, and that it wouldn’t carry out
pay-per-click advertising to drive online sales.
With its products sold online at JohnLewis.com, Running Bare,
Cloggs, and SweatyBetty amongst others, FitFlop’s online sales
already account for 25 percent of total sales. Thomson aims for
FitFlop.com to achieve a quarter of that 25 percent within 18
months’ time.
To support its back-office requirements, FitFlop has contracted
DHL Supply Chain to provide fulfilment services. DHL’s remit
includes storage, pick and pack, returns verification, packaging
recycling, and Christmas gift-wrapping.
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