By Ali Cudby
Recently, at The Intimate Circle, I spoke to Moira Nelson about the elements of manufacturing retailers should understand in order to buy and sell more effectively.
Like a retail store, a lingerie manufacturer must convey a clear message about their brand. Particularly at a start-up, which is where Nelson’s Bra La Mode focuses its consulting efforts, it’s critical for a company to speak in a cohesive … Read More
By Ali Cudby
Since joining the lingerie industry, I’ve always gone to the Curve trade shows in the US, but I hadn’t managed to visit ILS, the International Lingerie Show – until now. I wasn’t sure what to expect from my maiden voyage to ILS. I was told it was the “sexier” side of the lingerie industry, and that I would see more adult toys than I knew existed.
When the day arrived, I was … Read More
By Ali Cudby
A lingerie retail store – either bricks-and-mortar or online – is customer service oriented by definition. If you don’t make your customers happy, they won’t come back. Without customers, you’ll find yourself out of business. Seems obvious.
So retailers want to please their customers. But what happens when the thing that works best for the business is directly opposite to what the customer wants? That gets challenging. You need to protect your … Read More
By Ali Cudby
In the first part of this Buying Strategy series, we talked about the philosophy of creating a store’s Open to Buy.
To review, an Open To Buy calculation allows your store to map incoming inventory against expected sales. It is important to begin by thinking through your inventory across the main product verticals, such as bras, bottoms, shapewear, etc. Once those basic categories are determined, you can further refine them by key … Read More
By Ali Cudby
In preparation for the New Year and the upcoming shows, it’s a good time to take a look at your buying strategy. Is it working for you? Could it use a tune-up? Is your buying strategy hurting your business?
Some stores function without a buying strategy. Those stores are certainly putting themselves at risk every time they go to Market. Even stores that have a strategy for buying need to take time … Read More
By Ali Cudby
Welcome to the fourth installment of this series on branding in lingerie. Today we’ll be talking to Claire Chambers, Founder & CEO of the amazing Journelle stores in New York City.
If you are new to the branding series, you can take a look at previous articles about Lingerie Briefs, Secrets in Lace and INVISTA/Eurovet. The goal in these articles is to offer lingerie retailers diverse perspectives on branding from … Read More
By Ali Cudby
Branding is a lingerie store’s greatest opportunity to create the go-to experience every retailer wants its customers to enjoy. It is also one of the greatest challenges in building a successful business. Too many stores lose customers – and sales – by having branding that misses the mark.
Here in Retail Briefs we will be examining branding in a series of articles to give you the tools you need to boost your … Read More