Williams & Evans
With a strong high street investment in a physical store in the UK, Williams & Evans were skeptical about the web’s ability to deliver the brand ideals, and defensive of the impact it could have on the established store. Like many in the fashion industry, their entry to the online market was late and it has taken a considerable investment to take the lead back in the market.
In the words of Williams & Evans Partner, Edward Davies, the effect of the web on the retail landscape was underestimated “We had the retail knowledge, logistics and competitively priced product lines in place but, by our own admission, we delayed our Internet investment by far too long.”
Certainly WilliamsandEvans.co.uk, now considered the largest store in the chain, has grown from strength to strength and in the past 12 months alone online purchases have increased by over 300 per cent.
“Having put a skilled and dedicated team in place, our only regret today is that we blinkered ourselves from the opportunities for so long,” Davies explained.
Consumer confidence on the high street may be waning in some sectors due to the economic slowdown, but online fashion sales are proving highly resilient.
“The website has allowed us to understand our market better than before, with keen insight into buyer purchasing behavior. We recognize that customers perceive the products and lines in a different way online – items with fine detailing are more popular, a quarter of our customers are now female and specialist niche branches of the business are proving to be very popular such as SoulLeather.com.”
KHWDesign’s assistance to Williams & Evans extends further than the website and its multiple channels to Ebay and Amazon – with online marketing, and even a bespoke stock taking system, where warehouse employees update central stock levels, instantly reflecting on all the sales channels. Returned stock can be scanned and re-allocated into the pool ensuring stock adjustment is instant and synchronized.
WilliamsandEvans.co.uk customers are frequent return purchasers via the website, as well as visiting the stores, proving that the initial fears that an online presence would divert sales, has in reverse, supported them, and extended sales to over 18 different countries.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently revealed that the Internet contributes around £100 billion to the UK’s economy every year, of which around 60 per cent was found to be from consumption of online shopping and subscriptions.
