Womenswear retailer Sheike has shaken up its marketing and product strategies over the past two years, GM Sandra Kennedy has revealed to Ragtrader.
With stores closed during lockdowns, Sheike's customers turned to the online channel for styling advice and interaction with the brand.
Kennedy said this shift pushed the business to create more brand-focused content and offer customers a storytelling experience.
"A big part of the changes that we noticed was our customers' behaviour and how they approached their shopping and interacted with the brand," she said.
"No doubt during the first year we saw that shift but during the second lockdown, we definitely felt that even more.
"So we really focused more on brand building and storytelling, particularly on our digital channels.
"This allowed us to develop a good understanding of how and when we talked to our customer, which really resulted in a more personalised one-on-one approach.
"It gave her somewhat of the same experience that she would typically come into our stores for," she said.
In addition, Sheike's customers' style requirements were changing – moving away from event wear to casual styles.
This shift allowed the business to explore new categories, Kennedy added.
"We made a really conscious effort to continue to listen and to adapt to where we needed to.
"Our design team really immersed themselves in that space and created more "any occasion" products.
"Traditionally we've been known as an eventing destination and so we had to increase that offering of what we call "any occasion" products – dresses and sets that have the versatility to transform and be styled for multiple uses and not just restricted to one occasion.
"That also opened up a lot of new categories for us such as swimwear.
"That really allowed us to strengthen that offering which resulted in some really nice demand from the customer," she said.