Cover Story: Apparel and the City
Lexy Funk, Brooklyn Industries' co-founder and CEO, said the company evaluates its website in three-year time frames. "We looked at the next three years and said, 'There's no way it's going to be able to support the growth we're seeing in our company and the growth that we expect to see online, so it's time to make an investment in a new architecture and a new way.'"
That new way is reflected in better integration between Brooklyn Industries' retail stores and website. When seasonal merchandise is flowed into its retail stores, new photography is placed behind cash wraps and display windows. That same photography and lifestyle imagery goes onto Brooklyn Industries' homepage. Other examples of its integrated retail approach include landing pages featuring top-selling products from its retail stores; sending three to four email blasts per week promoting retail best-sellers; and remerchandising its website each week with what's on the front tables in its stores — best-sellers, hot trends, new styles.
"There's a lot of synergy, where they're [Brooklyn Industries' retail stores and website] actually showing the exact same imagery and campaign," says Funk. "We don't see them as different channels."
Brooklyn Industries' website is also now integrated with the point-of-sale system in its brick-and-mortar stores. This has helped to better manage inventory levels, saving time and money. Previously, employees had to manually replicate orders and inventory, which wasn't sustainable given the company's growth.
Investment in a new e-commerce platform has paid off for Brooklyn Industries: site traffic is up roughly 30 percent year-over-year since its launch, and units per transaction and average order value have grown as well. The retailer has also taken advantage of the site's capabilities to test new and expanded product categories, such as jewelry and shoes, which have generated new revenue streams.
Social Media
Advancements
As a small company with limited resources, Brooklyn Industries prefers to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to investing in new technologies. Apparently social media has become mainstream enough for it to take the plunge. With a Facebook page, Twitter account and company blog — all prominently linked to on Brooklyn Industries' homepage — the retailer has at least dedicated the time, if not the big bucks, to the trendy social channels.
Not unlike many other retailers, however, Brooklyn Industries views its social media efforts as more than just a means to generate sales. They serve as a tool to foster brand awareness and brand loyalty, too. Of course Brooklyn Industries isn't turning away sales driven via social media — in fact, revenues coming from Facebook and Twitter are growing more rapidly than other networks coming into the brand — but the amount of effort and resources it's put into social media hasn't justified the revenue it's generated in return.
"If you were to look at it similar to pay per click, you probably wouldn't do it because we're making hardly any money," says Funk on Brooklyn Industries' social media efforts. "Some, but not enough to justify the amount of time we put into it. But it's really about brand loyalty, building a community and speaking to that community about our brand and what we're doing."
