Brossard quit a City career to create LuxxLab
Quitting a high-profile career in the City of London, Natalie Brossard co-founded LuxxLab.com, an online boutique with a twist, along with fellow former-career girl Anouchka Bala. Here Natalie explains why online-only is the way to go.
We have no interest in brick and mortar. It just isn’t part of the plan for LuxxLab.com now or in the future.
We launched the website back in September 2012 at the start of London Fashion Week. It is an online collective of luxury and contemporary fashion labels offering unlimited access to the latest trends worldwide via a unique, easy-to-navigate platform.
The main reason we’re unlikely to move in-store is that we want to be as global as possible in our outlook. Having a brick and mortar store isn’t a bad thing, but it is resource-intensive and in many ways these businesses are restricted by geographical location.
When it comes to curating the lines we stock, we try as much as possible to think internationally and take global cultures into account. When we pick fabrics, shapes and designs we don’t focus on the UK market but also consider what shoppers go for in France, Germany, Italy, South America and the US.
There are pros and cons to having a store. One plus point for customers is the experience of being able to handle and touch the items they’re considering buying. It’s important, therefore, that we give our customers all the information – in the form of words and pictures – they need to feel confident about making a purchase online.
Our site is heavily curated by my co-founder Anouchka and me. We hand-pick every piece that goes onto the website and nothing gets passed without being tried on by one of us.
Our product descriptions give consumers a lot more information that they would usually have access to. We write them ourselves – so they are from the heart – and try to give as fully-formed and balanced a description as possible in each case.
Soon we will introduce virtual fitting-rooms too, which will help customers get an even clearer picture of how the garment will look when they are wearing it.
We have tried to recreate as much of the offline shopping experience as possible for our customers. It’s why we have two elements to our website: ‘Luxx’ – which is high-end and ‘Lab’ which is more experimental and emerging. It’s like a department store stocking different items on two floors.
There are swathes of consumers – not just older, less tech-savvy people – who enjoy visiting brick and mortar shops. There will always be those who value the tangible nature of ‘real-world’ shopping. Going for lunch, stopping for coffee – these are things which make for a fun a day out.
But people don’t always have the time for such a ‘lean-back’ experience. Professional people are working longer hours and have fewer spare days. So there is a big advantage in being able to scan 500 dresses and picking the one you want in ten minutes online. It could take all day in-store.
The online shopping experience has adapted to the way consumers increasingly want to research and buy clothes. The demise of so many high street shops is extremely sad but many of those which fared the worst failed to adapt to this change in customer behaviour.
As a retailer, you really have to adapt to new trends and new technologies. It’s not a generational thing; consumer habits are changing in line with technological advancement, which is evolving at such a pace that each year is different.
This doesn’t have to be bad news for brick and mortar retailers; they simply need to expand online services. Companies that are doing this successfully meld the best of online and offline experiences, with ‘in-store’ technology, a strong mobile presence, comprehensive customer service and efficient payment systems.
This is the formula for Luxx Lab, creating tangible and rewarding experiences online. It’s why we are working hard to update the website regularly with new features that enhance the customer journey. For us, it is key to make the website the best it can be, which is why our focus is resolutely online.
Speak Your Mind