Abouchar says once your store is up and running, think about what extra layers of service you can transfer from your bricks-and-mortar world to online.
He says the “danger” is that it could become just an arm of your physical store, without the personal service.
“You need to have the second layer of service. Anyone can sell stuff online, but think, how are we going to be different?” he says.
“Customers will go where they get service and advice.”
He says to draw on your customer data, tailor content, and personalise their experience to maximise engagement with the brand.
Abouchar is an admirer of stitchfix.com, a US start-up which is taking service to the next level.
“It is basically filling in a profile questionnaire about your personal style, and they send you a box of five different products that they’ve picked (based on the survey).
“You keep what you want, and send back what you don’t, and over time the platform becomes smarter about what is good for you. It works out outfits for you. It’s a subscription-based model with a service layer, added on to the technology layer.”
It is tempting to try and be everything to every customer, and to panic that your competitors are more advanced in e-tail. However, Abouchar says to pick what is vital, do it well, and say no to the rest.
He argues that there is “only so much time in the day”, especially juggling both a physical store with a new online enterprise.
“It is about focus…about two years ago we decided to stop starting new things, and we said ‘let’s focus on doing a few things well’.”
The Grand Social narrowed down its key objectives – a refresh of the homepage, tailoring the customer experience, upgrading warehouse and fulfillment distribution, and perfecting inventory management and barcoding.
Abouchar says people launching online may wonder why they are not getting instant results, but says to remember that just like a physical store, results can take time.
“It takes just as long to build a business online as offline. People have expectations that they will open an online business and in a year or two they will be relaxing in the tropics…it is just as tough if not tougher as there are millions of people around the world to compete with.
“Online is no different, it brings the same challenges as offline.”
Simon Goodrich and Jean-Claude Abouchar will be presenting at Fashion Exposed Trade Fair in Melbourne, which begins Sunday, August 25. For seminar details visit www.fashionexposed.com.
Melinda is a business writer and editor and helps companies to bring their brand stories to life through her small business, Oliver Content. Melinda was previously the content manager for KPMG Australia, an editor of SmartCompany, and spent many years as a journalist.
