By Helen Brown, founder of Catwalk Genius

Congratulations on your decision to purchase…

MyAwesomeOnlineFashionBiz.com!

Please read these operating instructions thoroughly before use.

1. Cool design not supplied
Your customers spend most of their online time on beautifully-designed pages. The look of the site will be a critical factor in establishing your credibility with new visitors, so invest in professional design and photography.

2. Select a business model
Are you competing with Net-a-Porter? ASOS? If so, please plug in your multi-million marketing budget into socket A. Or, you could choose to exploit online technology in a way that nobody else has – and become remarkable. 

3. Install a slick user experience
Navigating your site may seem obvious, but guessing the best layout is an expensive gamble. Better to take a leaf out of Jakob Nielsen’s book and test your design regularly with the help of typical members of your target audience. 

4. Find your audience
If you just build it, they almost certainly won’t come. If you don’t have the budget for those Vogue advertorials, you’ll need to invest wisely in marketing and PR. Social media is your friend, as long as your firm has an authentic, interesting voice.

By Helen Brown, founder of Catwalk Genius

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Shoppers looking for bargains on eBay could find themselves to be the proud owners of “dirty money” goods, thanks to a new initiative being trialled by Leicestershire Police.

In the past year, goods worth over £3 million have been confiscated from criminals, and now the police are using eBay to try and make some of this money back, which will then be split between their force and the government.

Unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of fashion up there yet – no fur coats or diamond-studded heels.  They are however doing a roaring trade in plasma TVs, computers and stereo equipment.

There’s also quite a lot of bling up for grabs, although it’s not had a lot of interest as yet – maybe bidders are scared of the consequences of coming face-to-face with the owner?  Or maybe there’s just not much of a market for knuckle-duster “Mum” rings.

I’m still going to be keeping an eye on the auctions though – there’s bound to have been a gangster’s wife out there somewhere who had a penchant for designer handbags…

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See Webwatch in this week’s Drapers for my review of egfashion.co.uk.

Read the article on Drapers Online

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By Vicki Day

After a long career in actual bricks and mortar retailing I now see the future as online as consumers love the flexibility and the fact they can shop without leaving the sofa.

I think retailers need to “grasp the nettle” and see the Internet as an enhancement to their business and giving their business an extra dimension taking them relatively low cost into new countries or new areas not as competition for their retail estate.

Consumers are going to be shopping online for convenience and to check out product. So when they go to do their actual shopping on the High Street it will be more of a leisure pursuit so people will taking in shopping along with eating and meeting friends.

Retailers should be looking to enhance their retail estate so people have a real retailing experience when they step into a shop to buy something.

Online retailing isn’t a passing fad it will grow and become more sophisticated and soon consumer’s expectations will be higher so just a basic site will no longer suffice – so my view is it’s better to invest in your online presence now than arrive at the party too late.

By Vicki Day of Retail PR Pure Sauce

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By Linda Roberts

Here at London College of Fashion we’ve seen an increase in the number of entrepreneurs who are planning to start, or have started their own label, and are keen to start selling online.

They see e-tail as an extremely cost effective route to market.

It allows newly established labels to reach a much larger audience more quickly, and it also enables them to demonstrate the vision or ethos of their brand which might otherwise get lost amongst other labels in a store. 

To cater for this growth in the market, we’ve created a unique one-day seminar which will offer delegates the opportunity to understand the benefits of e-tail and learn how to take their brands online.

There will be keynote speakers and online fashion experts, including Leon Bailey-Green and Claire Muir of Amethyst Group, who will offer an insight into what to expect when using the internet to sell or market fashion.

Visit www.fashion.arts.ac.uk for more information.

By Linda Roberts, Senior Business Manager at London College of Fashion

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Hands up who only started noticing Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo after watching one too many episodes of Sex and the City?

It may have seemed incongruous at the time, but product placement in the US is a multi-million dollar concept.

Now the UK ban on product placement is expected to be lifted; which could change the fashion retail environment in the country immeasurably.

While this has caused controversy, there’s no denying that in the recession, money needs to be made.

Retailers who feature on TV will no doubt see rising sales and increased brand awareness. An opportunity for an extra marketing channel is great news.

It’s also a fantastic break for young designers – Gossip Girl recently used up-and-coming Alexandra Vidal’s collection, which led to huge press attention and stars clamouring to get hold of her pieces.

Imagine watching X-Factor and seeing Cheryl Cole in a gorgeous designer dress that could be yours in a matter of minutes just by clicking online.

This really could be the way forward for fashion retail.

By Nicola Paul

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Brands from bloggers...
- Favourable write ups about products and services
- Blogs posts to contain links to their online retail stores to drive traffic
- Blog posts with links to improve search engine visibility
- Trickle effect of other bloggers mentioning the brand
- Appearance of blog posts in search results for brand related terms
- CPA/affiliate advertising opportunities

Bloggers from brands...
- Free products
- Links from the brand’s website
- Invitations to press days, events and launch parties
- Opportunity to write for the brand’s website
- Payment for advertorial posts
- Payment for adverts
- Payment on a CPA basis through affiliate tracking
- Competition prizes for visitors

Do you have any to add?

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Where Google innovates in text search Empora leads the way in visual search for fashion.

Empora.com the place to shop the uk’s top retailers

You thought shopping by shape meant body shape, but now, thanks to Empora, it can mean shopping by the shape of an item, not to mention colour and price.

How does it work you ask; Well, click ‘view similar’, on any item that you like the shape of, and Empora returns other items of a similar shape.

Take a look at this example.

Top row – shape matches.

Middle row – shape and colour matches.

Bottom row – Colour matches.

Give it a go at www.empora.com

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...And why not? Susie’s blog Style Bubble has a huge following and advertisers want to get in front of her audience.

Susie’s blog shows an ad for Levi’s

Advertising is a tricky topic in fashion blogging land (see here).

A lot of bloggers don’t want adverts, and many that have given commercialisation a go have been disappointed by miniscule returns.

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Myself with Kristine earlier this year

Kristine Kirby has exited her role as E-commerce Director at Lipsy, which is owned by Next Plc.

Kristine is expected to stay in online retail, with a new role to be announced very soon.

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