Net-a-porter Revamps Their Magazine

Net-a-porter just announced on Twitter that they had a new magazine layout for their site. Since I’m a huge fan of new and improved features of this luxury site. I checked it out and found it to be a modification of WWD’s layout without the fancy grid layout, as it slides smoothly from the right.  It still keeps its prime feature of shopping the look on the spot. Fabulous!

[Via Twitter]

The Outnet Arrives - A Good or Bad Thing?

From the creators of Net-a-porter, The Outnet discount retailer went live today.

Quality discount clothing from a quality website owner. No loose pieces of lint, no dramatic catfights, no torn dresses, no overcrowded meltdowns, and no bitchy shoppers to deal with.The joys of shopping online. The only frustration I encounter regularly, even if I’m not purchasing, is how lightning fast online shoppers are in clicking those “Add To Cart” buttons.

Even during these massive discount times and that I don’t like discounts in general, I applaud Net-a-porter’s approach in offering only last Spring’s styles instead of this year’s. I’m also assuming last year’s fall collection will end up on the Outnet in a few months. They seem to be sticking to the traditional formula in offering the discount much later rather than only a few weeks online. How that will play to their advantage, however, will remain to be seen. Most physical stores on the retail playground are no longer adhering to traditional sale seasons due to the recession. I’m not quite sure if the same rules apply to online stores in general, such as online counter parts like Banana Republic seem to echo their prices as to what goes on the retail sales floor, so it’s difficult to say if original prices have a longer shelf-life online.

Outnet also offers sort of an Ideeli-like “flash sale” where deep discounts on certain items will only last for 72 hrs. The first of it’s kind is 8 days from now, a bundle of Spring dresses.

Granted, the Outnet is not that much different from other online discount retailers or the high end department stores who have sales of their own on their website. Here, they have to tread carefully. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Death to Discounts? The Designers Rebel, deep discounts are rifting the relationship between department stores and their designers. If retailers are too eager to put items on sale, designers may look for alternative solutions to keep discounts to a minimum and may look to open their own retail corner to control prices and keep some integrity over their products.

So, will The Outnet aggravate the already fragile relationship between consumer and designer? Only time will tell if it will survive this year’s price wars.

Image credit: The Outnet

No Brag, Just Drab

I’m a little confused about runway collections and showroom collections.

The Wall Street Journal reports that ever since high end retailers like Neiman Marcus and Saks posted their losses in the last quarter, designers are said to have scaled back on the fantasy and zeroed in wearability to attract customers.

First of all, this seems contradictory of what happens on the sales floor. Given that I’ve cited a while back that runway shows are simply “for show,” the showroom collections differ greatly from runway and are actually designed to be worn yet not glamorous enough to be on the runway. Just take a look at Neiman, Saks, Bergdorf, Barneys and Net-a-porter. They all carry designer labels, yet only a few of them (as pointed out by Net-a-porter) are straight off the runway. The rest has never seen the light of day except by the eyes of retail buyers.

If the runway collections are, dare I say, drab this Fall, then what will buyers expect to see in the showroom? Even more drab clothing? I don’t understand this logic from designers. Buyers should know that runway is just for entertainment (to some end) and that the real business goes down in the showroom. If you can’t impress them on the runway, how can you even make them want to come to your booth at the showroom? Aren’t runway shows supposed to be fantastical anyway? One would think a great runway show will make you even more excited for the showroom just to see what the designer has in stock. Besides, aren’t buyers able to look past the glitzy parade and look for potentials in the clothes? Why would they be offended if there was a display of obvious luxury when they very well know that the real collections are nothing of the sort?

A good example of this is Alexander McQueen. Just take a look at his Spring 09  collection on Style.com, and then go to Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Yoox.com, and Net-a-porter.

What one would expect in the retail stores

Less likely to see this	More likely to see this

Clearly some elements of the runway shows up in the inventory, but you also see pieces that were not on the runway in greater numbers on these sites.

What really interests me is the effect on the clientèle itself. If a runway show is said to be say,  offensive,  in a sense that it displays obvious luxury, how exactly will that affect sales? Shoppers won’t really see these pieces in store, so what difference does it make?

I believe price slashing (other than the recession) was a key move that could set back retailers in attracting clients to paying full price in the future. If a dress sells for $1500 and then sold at $300 (80% off), then what’s that really saying to shoppers? It sends such a negative message (from a retailer’s point of view) that shoppers can save money if they just wait it out. But how is this helping retailers in selling at full price in the future?

Even if designer clothes have suddenly been made “wearable” (eventhough it has always been wearable on the retail floor), it’s really the economy that will determine shopping behavior. The middle market that was once attainable  for high end retailers to attract are no longer biting the bait. Inventory will shrink and refocus on wealthier clientèle, and perhaps a new breed of “accessible luxury” will be created at more affordable prices than before. The question is, are high end designers willing to go that low? Or will a new breed of middle market designers emerge to cater to the now frugal masses? Perhaps bridge collections will have to be priced cheaper than before, or given an extra oomph in order to sell.

Whatever the case, year end results will give us a really good idea of how well the fashion industry has coped with the recession.

Image credits: style.com, net-a-porter, l’oreal fashion week

Barney’s Designer Mailer Online Catalogue

Are store websites a little too boring to browse to your liking? Do you miss that editorial fashion fantasy that magazines thrive upon and yet website miss upon? Fear no more, there seems to be a new trend emerging on fashion websites.

I’ve been store surfing online looking at the latest holiday collections and came upon Barneys‘ site. Although I seldomly have browsed there, I did noticed that they’ve added a new shoppable editorial magazine. Most websites will have commercial photo shoots of a model wearing the item on sale, however the relationship between viewer and photo is sort of cold and generic in my opinion. Fashion editorials, on the other hand, are highly stylized with different accessories and contain more elaborate backgrounds. They weave a fantasy of eye candy that makes potential shoppers go “oooh…now that’s pretty, and I want it.”

This format of catalogue shopping through editorials is relatively new from what I’ve seen of store websites. Barneys has picked up on the idea and launched their version of it called “Designer Mailer“. This holiday season, Canadian model Coco Rocha is splashed across the catalogue on every page. Whether in Flash or HTML  version, users can mouseover certain items that can be directly purchased online. The slightly disadvantaging point is that most of the items sold are accessories like shoes, bracelets, necklaces and bags. Some of the big ticket items like an L’Wren Scott dress are not available online, and can only be found in certain stores. A shame because for me in an editorial, I’d want to have the chance to purchase everything that I see. Call it online boutique hotel-style shopping.

I’m not sure if many shoppers are like me, but my desire to purchase depends greatly on how great the mannequins or models are dressed. I like being in a store where there are styled mannequins. It’s enough to send me finding the exact thing I see. Montreal, alongside Tokyo, in general has very attractive mannequin displays, especially at Simons. I can be sold on a look in seconds, it really doesn’t take much.

Online beauty stores can also apply this method of shopping by allowing users to mouse over a model’s face and imagine buying the very products that they’re looking at. They usually give credits in magazines as to what exactly a model is wearing, but you’d have to dig through the end of the magazine for that. An online beauty store could ideally benefit from this ease of purchase.

Certainly this is an interesting approach from Barneys, but they would need to work on refining the editorial shop just to make it a little more user-friendly. One advantage over Net-a-porter is having real physical stores in several locations (unfortunately only across America). I think The Gap & co. could use this kind of online business model as they have several brands and they could need the boost. I expect to see similar editorial shops to pop up in the near future.

Image credit: Barneys’ website

I Want, Therefore I Click

As I’m clicking through Net-a-porter, my now #1 stop to dream and contemplate a purchase, has made me realize a couple of more reasons as to why this site is such a success.

Namely, it is a fashion magazine and online store rolled into one. Quite obvious I know, but a deeper contemplation made me realize that online stores in general do not necessarily have the written editorial to tout their new products in a magazine format. Think of reading Vogue and be able to buy exactly what they’re saying is the hottest item of the season on the spot, instead of dragging yourself to the store, hope the store actually carries the item, if not, special order, and go through all the hooplahs one might go through to get the item.

We’re a lazy generation. I admit that many of you probably enjoy the going through the entire “hunting” experience of getting what you want, but I think it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore our need for instant gratification.

Online stores like Saks, Neiman, Forever 21, Piperlime and Zappos display their array of products and merely announce new arrivals, not quite hyping them up like Net-a-porter does. It also helps that Net-a-porter suggests looks and combinations, and allows you to really zoom in and analyze in full detail parts of the garment since it isn’t possible to do so in person.

I’m not suggesting all stores should start posting online editorials - however, I wouldn’t find it too shabby as a strategy to get more people to buy the products, especially if the store is selling different brands. Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy could perhaps benefit of such a move, especially when Holts already establishes a relationship with their clients with their aggressive call-to-action weekly newsletter. If both stores could offer online shopping and free shipping delivery (for shoes to start), they could definitely boost sales in these harsh economic times. Shoppers tend to shift to online stores when the market is down, so it would only be natural to take advantage of the online medium to keep sales afloat.

With the right combination of marketing and savvy management of an online store and proper, relevant, editorial content, I think clothing stores should consider this as a Plan B.

Image Credit: Versace from Holt Renfrew

Next Page »