Our very own Richard Bendelow was in the hot-seat this week a Touchretail quizzed the Visualsoft co-founder about the launch of DesignerClothing.com.
Touchretail are a privately owned company with a team that cares passionately about their products and service.  Based in Staffordshire, they have over 200 retail businesses as current clients, and their customer portfolio ranges from retailers with over 1,000 employees to the independent family business, and from under £1m to over £100m turnover.
Originally known as Retail Accounts, the company was established in 2004 to develop retail specific accounting and management reporting software, while at the same time supporting many retailers with legacy systems and managing their progression from legacy software and hardware to the latest technology. Â From an original user-base mainly in the Department Store sector, they have developed integrated stock control, EPOS and online website systems for independent retailers largely in the fashion and sportswear sectors.
Following the acquisition of Retail Software Ltd in 2008, the new trading name of Touchretail was adopted to better reflect the current product portfolio. They also recently had their website designed courtesy of our award-winning website design team.
Richard was delighted to take time out of his busy schedule to sit down and answer the questions from Touchretail. The full article that was published online on Wednesday 16th September 2009 can be read below:
As DesignerClothing.com goes live this week, Touchretail talks with Director Richard Bendelow to find out more about the site that’s set to revolutionise the online fashion market for both merchants and consumers.
Tell us a little about DesignerClothing.com – what is it and how does it work?
DesignerClothing.com is a consumer-driven site that brings together the latest menswear, womenswear and childrenswear collections from hundreds of leading online designer boutiques, all onto one site. We work directly with designer clothing retailers that have online stores and feature their ranges on our site to help them increase their sales and customers. Although DesignerClothing.com has just launched as a Beta version, we’ve already got over 1,500 brands featured and tens of thousands of products from lots of great stores including Triads, The Menswear Site, and Jules B.
What makes DesignerClothing.com different from fashion portals?
DesignerClothing.com is truly consumer focused – a lot of portals merely offer a fairly static medium through which merchants can advertise their wares, with no thought given to creating real customer appeal and functionality. Our site has been created with the shopper in mind from the very outset, which is why we have unique features such as the option for visitors to profile themselves – this enables them to tailor the clothing, shoes and accessories they see on DesignerClothing.com based on their personal sizes and brand preferences. Ultimately, this results in a much better, streamlined service for the customer, which in turn means greater conversions.
How can merchants get involved?
We’re working with around 100 merchants at the moment as we chose to limit the numbers for the pre-launch period, however now we’re live we’d encourage anyone who fits the bill to get in touch and find out more about our merchant programme.
We’ve had an incredibly positive reception from the fashion industry, as a lot of online retailers recognise the value of DesignerClothing.com as a risk-free route to market, which is especially relevant in the current economic climate. The success of DesignerClothing.com is parallel to that of the retailers it features, and so we’re committed to offering an even and fair service to all those we’re working with, large or small.
The online fashion industry is one of few enjoying continued growth, and so being on board DesignerClothing.com can help retailers make the most of the positive trend by being part of something bigger – it also helps that the site itself is very strong in terms of both design and function, which instils confidence in both merchants and shoppers alike.
What do you think will prove to be crucial to DesignerClothing.com’s success?
The functionality of the site is incredibly important, as above all, it needs to work in a way that meets consumer needs. The site has been designed and developed by Visualsoft – the award-winning e-commerce company that I founded in 1998 with Dean Benson – and is the culmination of a lot of hard work, but we’ll be continuously improving and adapting it to ensure that we keep on top of what both merchants and shoppers want from DesignerClothing.com. Our integrity is also hugely important – DesignerClothing.com is committed to offering the best products from the best merchants and the best brands, and this has to be reflected in all that we do. This doesn’t mean that the site is elitist (far from it, we’re aiming to cater for varied markets and budgets), but it does mean that we won’t compromise our own brand or that of the merchants that are on board with us.
What level of growth are you anticipating?
Within the next six weeks alone, we’re on target to feature over 100,000 products on DesignerClothing.com across menswear, womenswear and childrenswear, and the site has been developed to accommodate even more, so the sky’s the limit – watch this space!
We wish Rich and Dean the greatest success in their new venture. For more information visit DesignerClothing.com.
