Fashion and Jewellery Exchange
by Enterprise Nation
In May we attended a wonderful fashion and jewellery exchange event
hosted by Enterprise Nation founder Emma Jones and West Midlands Enterprise
Champion Debbie Assinder. The event brought together top buyers from retail
giants such as Selfridges, John Lewis, Net-A-Porter and River Island to give us
first class tips on how to attract a buyer's attention and get your product
stocked in these prestigious stores.
How To Sell To Selfridges
Eleanor Robinson, head of accessories buying provided wonderful
advice and excellent tips on how Selfridges find new brands and the key factors
that help them decide whether to stock the brand and place an order.
Selfridges Overview
The Selfridges group has sales of over £500m with own-bought stock
accounting for £200m of selling. All products have to be right for the
Selfridges brand and extremely well made. Eleanor mentioned that there is a
trend of customers veering away from made in China goods.
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| Credit: RBH Agency |
Selfridges
customers are interested in the story behind brands and care that goods are
ethically and sustainably produced. Before approaching Selfridges, you should
research their current brands and make sure your brand fits in with their range
and values.
Go for The Indirect
Approach to Get Spotted
Most brands are found in boutiques, trade shows and showrooms
rather than through contacting a buyer. You can still directly contact buyers
with a lookbook and through email but responses are rare. If you do send in a lookbook,
Eleanor emphasised that there is no need to also send in expensive samples to
impress and you may be wasting your money if you do so. A simple cover note
introducing your brand will suffice.
Key Places Selfridges Discover New Labels
Trade Shows, Showrooms
and Boutiques
To source many of their goods Selfridges visit large trade shows
in Paris and Milan such as the Tranoi exhibition for luxury retailers. These
are highly competitive to be selected to exhibit at and very expensive to be
part of. On a smaller scale, multi-brand showrooms are often visited by buyers
looking for fresh talent as are the best boutiques.
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| Credit: Jennifer Hamley |
Influencers and Peers
Buyers are most influenced by their peers, what's in the press and
if bloggers are talking about and wearing new brands. If they spot a fellow buyer or PR
employees wearing a new brand it is a key endorsement and the starting point of
wanting to know more about a brand and its potential as a Selfridges brand.
Once a potential brand is spotted they may watch its progress for
a couple of seasons before considering stocking the label. This gives
businesses a chance to grow and get the correct systems in place such as
manufacturing to ensure they are organised and capable of supplying orders on
time and to high quality controls. For this reason, it may be better for brands
to start with being stocked in small boutiques before chasing big orders.
Brand Marketing Tips
Key question buyers from Selfridges will ask from new suppliers is:
‘What is unique about your brand?’
They recommend using social media to tell your brand story in more
detail rather than relying on a catalogue for example.
You will need to use great photos tell your story and your website
must be totally on-point to represent your brand. Using Instagram is important
for fashion brands to attract attention. Having a large number of followers is
not essential if the key influencers that do follow the brand introduce their
large following to the brand and wear the clothes in their posts.
When to Approach
The busiest period for buyers ties in with the major fashion
seasons and is from January to March and September to October. Some business is
also done in June and July. You
may have a better chance of a positive response if you approach buyers in
quieter periods. Orders are
placed in line with the seasons with the influence of pre-collections becoming
more important in recent years.
Once in Store
With online shopping becoming more important, it takes more effort
to get customers into store. Selfridges approaches this by aiming to make the
shopping experience more personalised with a sense of theatre and
entertainment. They want to ‘surprise, amuse, amaze’. In-store displays can use
demonstrations and videos to bring their brands to life.
Brand exclusivity is always wanted by Selfridges and they will promote a brand more
if a competitor does not also stock it.
Events are anchored around key trading periods i.e. Christmas and
the aim is to also tie-in with special occasions. The ‘Live and Loud’ Selfridges
campaign in Birmingham was their response to the dramatically changing retail
environment in Birmingham with the opening of Grand Central Station, John Lewis
and the expansion of The Mailbox.
The campaign celebrated the very best of Birmingham art, fashion,
beauty, music and food. Exciting events included an in-store exhibition space,
Michelin-starred dining experiences, Bollywood cinema screenings and live
music. A collaboration with Birmingham City University involved an in-store
catwalk, a showcase of student graduate final projects and flash mob
performances on all floors.
Parameters of Success
Selfridges will look for a margin of at least 2.5 times your trade
price. So a £100 trade price handbag will retail at £250. They may start with a small order
to begin with and you will need to plan how quickly you can replenish stock if
all goes well.
If sales are slow, you will need to reassess your offer and
consider more marketing, social media promotion, staff training and promotions.
You may be faced with having to sell products at a heavy discount or buying
back your stock. You can also try a pop-up stand and these can last anything
from a weekend to 6 weeks.
Finally
Emma Jone's Enterprise Nation is brilliant at helping small businesses with advice and support to help your business grow. Their events are full of great tips and inspirational speakers. Rachel Whitehead with Emma above attended the event to get advice for her jewellery business and was lucky enough to win a free trip to Berlin on the Go Global Berlin visit.
Photography credit: Rebecca Chivers Media www.rebeccachiversmedia.co
Close-up product images: Dan Martin, Enterprise Nation www.enterprisenation.com
Close-up product images: Dan Martin, Enterprise Nation www.enterprisenation.com
