In the height of COVID-19 lockdown, Alice McCall decided to put its resort 21 collection, 'Girl, Liberty!' up for pre-order.
The collection – which was originally supposed to make an appearance at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia (MBFWA) – debuted alongside a short film.
Following on from other successful pre-order collections, the resort 21 collection 'Girl, Liberty!' generated significant results for Alice McCall, including a 23% uplift in site visits.
Alice McCall also introduced vegan leather pieces to the resort 21 collection, further expanding the brand's offering.
To gain insights into this digital initiative as well as how the business is operating now, Ragtrader spoke to Alice McCall founder, Alice McCall.
Why did Alice McCall set up the pre-order system for 'Girl, Liberty!'?
When COVID all started I knew it was essential to review the business model to ensure that the right changes were implemented.
Not only for the present but make positive changes for the future of my brand and the forever evolving industry and market.
Setting up the pre-order system as the short film and imagery for Resort 21 ‘Girl, Liberty! was released to the public contributed to my awareness of online being by far the best performing sales revenue platform.
I’ve seen a 23% lift with site visits from previous collection pre-orders on the website so it made sense for me to diversify the pre-order system to the business model to maximise potential online sales but also increase online visits and the number of consumers viewing not only the pre-order styles but what is available now.
I was also excited to allow the consumer to pre-order a look or style in advance as we regularly receive enquires requesting pre-ordering after a collection has been shown at MBFWA so it tied in nicely to give consumers this exclusivity once the short film and imagery was released to the media.
This isn’t the first time I have had a pre-order system in place for my collections, I have had a selection of styles from three other collections exclusively on pre-order after being shown at Fashion Weeks.
Bon Bon (resort 18) which was shown at MBFWA May ‘17 was the first collection to go on pre-order on our website.
It turned out to be very successful so we continued to offer pre-order for runway season’s after that – including SS18 'Portrait of a Lady' shown at NYFW Feb 2018 runway and resort 19 'Kismet' shown at MBFWA May 2018.
How else has Alice McCall been impacted by COVID?
COVID-19 no doubt had a direct impact on our retail stores as I made the decision to close all 13 boutiques for six weeks.
Sales declined from not having the store fronts open but positively the business saw an increase of 40% in online sales and since reopening almost all stores sales having been lifting week on week.
Although this impacted the business’s sales I took this some would say negative experience and turned it into a positive by taking the time to review, adapt and look at other opportunities within trade other than my retail stores.
MBFWA was also cancelled back in May where I was meant to show the resort 21 collection ‘Girl, Liberty! to media, VIP consumers and most importantly international and national buyers.
Due to this I decided that I wanted to do something creative, inspiring and fun to express how I felt about the collection and allow the consumer/viewer to be able to experience the same or similar journey they would have taken on from seeing the actual fashion show.
I know content is so important for the digital platform and brand awareness presently to stand out and be different to everyone else in the industry, this influenced me to create a short film to express how I felt. I wanted everyone to feel like going out and getting dressed up when they watched the film.
Why has the business introduced Vegan leather to the resort 21 collection?
Being conscious of what I put into the world is something I hold to high importance.
Fashion is seeing a positive shift as we are asking where and how our clothing is made.
I am exploring sustainably produced alternatives, working with different fabrics and reworking designs in new ways to provide the Alice girl this option so many people in today’s society are conscious about when purchasing.
The vegan leather I designed for resort 21, is a glimpse into what I want to offer to consumers.
How is the business trading now with the stores open? How are the conditions?
Each week we are seeing a positive increase in sales since the stores have re-opened.
The newest collection ‘Wear Your Love Like Heaven’ is well and truly starting to arrive in store so it’s exciting that consumers are now able to visit their local boutique to view the collection and try it on.
Although stores have re-opened online continues to see more of a positive increase in online sales compared to last year’s sales.
Potentially I think consumers are still comfortable purchasing online while still having the option to return their purchases if they aren’t quite right rather than going into the centres and being amongst other shoppers.