Same day shipping, expanded product categories and upgraded m-commerce facilities are part of a sweeping revival of Australian designer fashion portal The Grand Social.
The online retail store offers a number of leading brands including Jayson Brunsdon, Romance Was Born, Ginger & Smart, Fernando Frisoni and Manning Cartell.
The Grand Social director Nick Gower said the revamp, which has already cost over $120,000, is part of an ongoing strategy to boost the website’s operations and expand. However, he said the redesign is set to gain momentum over the next 12 months.
“We feel that we took the previous design as far as we could and now have a ton of Australian first market leading ideas to roll out over the next 12 months and we want the look and feel of the site to reflect these changes,” he said.
“We have some new product developments in the pipeline for the first half of 2012. Next on the horizon is the introduction of same day shipping; extreme integration with mobile and social networking services; the debut of a beauty category; and a London adventure.”
Gower said the mobile portion of the redesign will include the addition of a responsive layout that will see access from all mobile devices become more user friendly and appropriate depending on screen size, as well as the launch of a mobile app.
“Social and mobile are two channels that are a priority for us, and we have just brought on a mobile specialist who will be working out of London. Integrating the shopping experience with social channels like Facebook is also a key focus right now and we will be launching some market firsts in this area.”
Gower revealed the latest changes will begin to go live from February next year, with the site also planning to ramp up its product offering in the near future.
“The new design is set up to make it easy to browse a huge number of products. We currently have 8000 products and over 80 brands, but over the next 12 months we are planning to double those figures. We have also built a new warehouse and wireless pick and pack system to accommodate that increase in volume,” he said.
“We are also looking to enter into collaborations which take us into the real world. We believe if you only exist online, you don’t exist at all, and we have a few partnerships in the works that will see our presence grow dramatically in Melbourne and London.
“They all focus on content and product share. Unfortunately we are unable to go into much more detail on this as these discussions are in progress at the moment.”
ELLERY: Stocked at The Grand Social
