Originality will get you nowhere!
For many years I invested in top of the range camera’s and white sheets (for blank backgrounds), clever software to help me showcase my products only to find that other people (competitors, of course) used to steal my work! I mean seriously, what is going on? Didn’t they go to school and learn through hard graft and detentions, maybe by completing 100 lines as a punishment or similar school inspired punishments that its wrong to copy? I repeat, it’s wrong to copy!
I used to find my pictures on their own websites – and most annoyingly on eBay! Of course, you can contact eBay and report an infringement of your intellectual property rights and eBay act super quick and remove the misused images quick sharp but I just think its pure laziness and lack of creativity that drives folk to pinch your ideas.
It has been a while since I have caught anyone (its been a while since I looked to be fair) but that’s probably more to do with the fact that we are now predominantly an end of line retailer than a “cutting edge” just on the market type get-up!
I remember one lady who actually bought goods from our site in the sale and had the nerve and bare-faced cheek to use our images to sell the said merchandise for a higher price on eBay. Of course, I’m all for the speculate to accumulate perspective, make a few quid if you can, but do take your own pictures please! Interestingly, this particular lady actually “hot wired” our image (this means not only did she use our picture but she used our hosting too). This was too good an opportunity to miss I changed the image she hot-wired for a picture of a donkey and I sincerely hope she enjoyed the laugh as much as I did.
Hatley Children’s Wear
Today, I decided to reduce the Hatley collection I am selling. Its currently being advertised at either cost price or less than cost – so basically its a real steal. You just cannot find Hatley at 50% OFF! Its a really great brand and its just not necessary for it to be reduced generally. Pink Bubble must currently be the cheapest on-line store retailer across the globe!
Many retailers do not reduce Hatley as the styles are timeless and to be fair to the brand, its a really good seller. It is popular amongst clients for their children and its price point makes it a popular choice for gifts. One year we virtually sold every pair of fuzzy slippers we had in stock and had zero returns! A 90% sell through is really impressive 🙂
Hatley children’s wear caters from baby sizes up to around age 8 years. You will find a good choice of pyjamas, raincoats, wellington boots, all-in-ones, umbrellas and a few fashion items too. Hatley manufacture their clothes from nice strong quality cotton and use organic dyes. The colours can be bright but sometimes some of the tones are muted, but in a pretty and contemporary way. Hatley really do seem to be market leaders in their sector. The agents and designers are all really good guys who just understand the market and demand.
The pyjamas and raincoatas are without a doubt the most popular items. The pyjamas are a snug fit. It is a good idea to buy a size up if you want some growing room. Just worth pointing out here that the style of the pyjamas is actually supposed to be quite snug. It is a cute look but the design is more entrenched in a safety aspect than your little ones looking super cute and adorable. Hatley is a Canadian company and open fires are more popular in Canada so to conform to strict fire regulations loose fittings garments are a clear no-no!
Also, the raincoats I generally sell up a size too as I find them quite snug around the body but a little long in the sleeve. Top tip: Roll the sleeves up! I sold them for a whole year with the sleeves rolled up at least twice until I saw the catalogue picture and saw that this is how Hatley model them too 🙂
You are probably wondering why we are selling them so cheap at the moment? Well, I have found that we really are quite low on stock. My preference is having a huge supply of matching styles so that my customers can buy everything to co-ordinate but also visually matching items work well when planning on-line marketing campaigns. We are due new deliveries of stock and as our stocks are quite low it makes sense to pass on some great savings. Take advantage – its probably not an offer you will see repeated. Its a really good opportunity to try the brand if you are a newbie to Hatley or even for an existing die hard Hatley fashion guru’s to stock up on a few pressies in time for Christmas. All the stock that I sell is absolutely first quality, as you would expect from a premier label such as Hatley.
I love a bargain – hope you do too!
Online vs Retail Shop
Well, 2014 has been my first year of trading solely on-line since 2007. It was a sad day when I closed our lovely little shop in London and it has been sadly missed. It was such a tough decision as the business had weathered the credit crunch and come through the recession smiling. However, it has meant that I have had much more time to dedicate to my on-line customers and to all the other things I want to try. I want to study and I have a fair few projects simmering away. I am currently getting ready for a particularly onerous University course starting in September 2014.
Many people often sing the virtues of trading on-line and I often hear the mantra about these benefits: Low overheads, being able to work your own hours, being your own boss, open 24/7 and many more. All of these are very valid and most of them do apply to me in one way or another.
Low Overheads The low overheads is a sure fire winner. It is the ultimate satisfaction of selling my little business. It is a delight not to pay rent. My landlady was blissfully unaware of the true impact of the recession and was rather spoilt in her attitude sometimes. She also had a lousy solicitor, who was hopelessly slow at performing simple tasks and who was thoroughly indulged my landlady over pretend cries of “all solicitors are like this”. Absolutely not! Mine was marvellously efficient and worth every penny (about 100,000 pennies actually). Thankfully, my landladies solicitor is not in the on-line business because he has no idea about providing service and building brand loyalty. I digress……
Work your own hours Its lovely working for yourself but in terms of setting your own hours, not really! If the workload is high, I have to work till its done!
Being your boss Always have been, always will. I think I am unemployable. Far to bossy and ambitious to ever fit in.
Open 24/7 Of course, I no longer have the restrictions posed on me of manning the shop six days a week and organising staff to cover. This certainly has to be the one distinct advantage of selling on-line. Open 24/7 everyday – even Christmas! Yes, we’ve even had orders drop into the inbox on Christmas day! Although, being Open 24/7 does pose the problem of answering customer emails. For some bizarre reason people seem to lose touch with time when dealing on-line. We frequently get emails, “we emailed you yesterday and have not had a reply”. Panic sets in and when we locate the unanswered email, it becomes apparent that a little less than a short nights sleep has actually elapsed! Its almost like normal rules don’t apply – dinner time, bed time and breakfast are not things that exist. I think what I am trying to say is that when you are dealing face to face with people in a small retail outlet, in a warm community, a sale becomes a partnership that leaves you both smiling. On-line shopping has become faceless with unrealistic expectations, probably generated by the big blue chips who have thousand of staff working all weekend throughout the long nights.
Face to face I do miss face to face selling. I personally find it much easier to sell clothing to people when they are in front of me and I genuinely enjoy sharing all I know about how the garments are made, how the fabrics are dyed and the construction process. About 14 years ago I did a part-time textiles/home furnishing course so I understand fabrics – its good to be able to use this knowledge. I also adore sharing snippits of gossip about the designers themselves. I like advising people about sizing and I got great satisfaction when a special gift became a treasured outfit, always to be remembered. Children can definitely tell when something is that little bit special and its really good for their self-esteem to feel nice and increases their confidence. I miss being part of that.
SEO and Hot Competition on Google
I am sure that anyone with an e-commerce website can relate to being bombarded by SEO (Search Engine Optimization) companies offering their services in the exact same annoying way as emails that offer you the opportunity to help some poor beneficiary move $9,000,000 USD out of the country and into your bank account. I wonder which proposal has the most success? In my opinion these SEO companies really are becoming the PPI equivalent for online e-tailers. One email reads much the same as the next and usually I press the delete button on auto-pilot. Interestingly, yesterday I was approached in a rather novel way. The email began by commenting on our new shiny website (flattery will get you everywhere) and then by confirming our web position on the all important Google. However, what was quite impressive and surprising was that the gentleman concerned had actually noted our web position in Google last year! I do like someone who knows the market and does their research. I replied and although I did not take him up on his proposal I certainly do wish him luck. This small contact with a bonafide SEO guru started me thinking about the competition for rankings. I started wondering if too much energy is spent on worrying about it and too much money spent on trying to achieve it. It’s so bizarre how obsessed business people become about where they are on Google and where their “favourite” competitor is placed. Don’t get me wrong – I love Google and often check where we are for our optimised search terms. I certainly enjoyed the glory days of being on the front page of Google (this was before the blue chips all squeezed in for a slice of the action and every Tom, Dick and Harry thought children wear was the profit capital of fashion) but seriously surely it’s better on balance to look at what you do and what you can offer your customers rather than compete with loads of other websites who all offer the same product and get into dreary price match battles. In my opinion these do nothing but devalue the products on sale and drag profit margins passed an already dismal zero. Everyone stocking the same labels reduces the selection on offer to customers and floods the market. It’s then further compounded by suppliers extorting sales by tapping in to the insecurity that the elusive “everyone” has selected a particular fashion collection because it’s sure to be a best seller! Who are they and who are we to predict the market, surely it’s the customer who defines a best seller and it’s most certainly the customer who creates demand. You only have to look around and see the volume of expensive clothing collections left in the sale and offered at knock down price to know that the demand is reduced. Admittedly, at times retailers need to be part-time economists but in my experience I have found that by offering substitutes you can end up doing very nicely indeed. So, basically what I am saying that even if your websites ends up on the first page of Google, I think customers are savvy enough to continue looking through the pages until they find the best price and if we all stock the same goods this pushes down the demand and creates a price war. Its all well and good getting people to visit your site but a visitor is not a customer until they have made a purchase. I think it’s more important to look at how many visitors you have that actually choose to make a purchase rather than how many millions of visitors pop into visit your site and pop off without buying anything. I think good traffic and ranking happens when you make your site unique, have interesting content, offer a certain amount of diversity in your product range and those all important little extras. I am not going to ramble on about back links, click through and conversion ratios, which are of course all relevant, but I consider a website to be like a house, the foundation is your content. SEO is like scaffolding that surrounds your house and offers support. In these difficult times I really do not think it’s all about search engine placement, I think that it’s equally important to be brave and be creative too.
The new website and the questions about Returning Goods…
I am so pleased with the new website! Hoorah! It’s finally done and up and running. You can visit it here: www.pinkbubble.co.uk. It’s been a mammoth effort to get it completed alongside running the old website and my little shop (and all the other commitments I have – more about these soon) so I am delighted that the website is now up and running. Its been great to hear from my customers who have given such positive feedback. Several customers have already spotted a couple of things that need to be worked on such as our contact information and the link to our Returns Policy (which was not working). Thank you, it’s only from feedback that I can ensure all the boxes are ticked.
It really is very interesting getting feedback from customers as it really helps me as a “business person” to identify key areas where clear information is required. When the link to the Returns Policy was not working one customer emailed to ask if she may return sale goods? Some of this information I just take for granted and forget how worrying making a purchasing decision can be. She informed me that some sites only offer a voucher for sale goods that need to be returned. This is not the first time I have been asked this and I do find it quite irritating that some shops adopt this approach which could puts people off shopping online.
As a retailer of both a shop and website I thought I would address this topic in my first ever blog. It’s a heavy topic for a first blog so if you were hoping for gossip and a little chit chat about my new fashion collections you may want to zone out now. I am not going to copy verbatim the rules and regulations but I would like to look at a couple of points that relate to all websites selling goods. Firstly, all UK sales are governed by the Distance Sales regulations which provide the customer with an unconditional right to cancel orders starting the day after goods are received for seven working days. With the exception of personalised goods (and probably underwear and earrings), which cannot be returned. ALL goods can be returned within the timeframe for a refund of the purchase price regardless of whether they are sale goods or full priced. Different rules apply for faulty goods (not discussed in this blog). It sounds sensible to me to allow customers the opportunity to inspect the goods, check the size, colour, detail, and quality of the merchandise. Of course, I do understand why small businesses do not want sale goods returned. Often these are sold at cost price or on a miniscule profit margin and after card processing charges are deducted (non-refundable by most card service providers) it generally means that not only has the opportunity to sell it been lost whilst its “toing and froing” the retailer has had to pay for the privilege.
Customers choosing to shop in land based shops will find that they may not have the same rights to a refund but this is generally because the opportunity to inspect the goods is available before the decision to purchase is made and of course, refunding can cause major problems for small businesses in managing cash flow. The cash flow issue for small internet based business is addressed by the regulations which allow online retailers 28 days to refund.
I know some shops and websites have problems with customers trying to return summer products in winter and vice versa or maybe returning items that have been worn (horrified face).
My experience is that most customers are great people (in my case mostly busy Mums like me) and just want the opportunity to make sure that the garments fit and that they look nice. I generally find that if customers find it easy to return goods they are more likely to be confident shopping and return more frequently. There! First blog completed.
If anyone wants more information I can recommended the following websites:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/contents/made (The meaty stuff)
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/ (Citizen Advice Bureau is a useful source of information)
bubblegossip 