Ellie
Hustler
were able to sell to those who were already doing shoes but we found it difficult to get shoes stocked in other outlets. Now they are trading with us for lingerie they are starting to take an interest in shoes. We’ve been to meetings where our intention was to sell lingerie and they’ve been more interested in the shoes, so there’s been a lot of cross-selling.” Kevco’s business continued to develop during 2010 but rapid growth does not come without a few pains. In October it was forced to make a decision that very few wholesalers have ever had to make - it closed its books to new trade accounts: “We just could not cope,” says Wooldridge. “We could have killed our business by opening up all these people and delivering a bad service.”
Earlier this year the firm solved this problem by recruiting former GotLingerie and New Temptations Sales Manager Lynne Seeds. She now handles all new enquiries and will either visit them or talk them through the account opening process. An account can also be opened instantly, so customers can begin trading straight away.
“Customers just starting out can have lots of questions and need a lot of information,” says Wooldridge. “And the girls in the office - Amanda, Alison and Mercedes - used to do this. But they are also dealing with people who have already got accounts and want to place orders, so they didn’t have the time to look after new people.” And talking of staff, Rennison is quick to
acknowledge the contribution they have made to the growth of the company: “The staff we have got are fabulous. They are trustworthy, they work hard and they are willing to put themselves out whenever necessary for the company and our customers.” Kevco’s diverse product range ensures that it has something to offer all retailers, be they national chains, standalone boutiques, mail order catalogue companies and Internet traders of all sizes. Smaller accounts and start-ups can take advantage of its dropshipping programme, which allows them to sell goods they don’t have in stock. The dropshipping charge is £4 per order of shoes and £2.50 for lingerie, in addition to the wholesale price, plus postage. For other retailers there is no minimum order value and the maximum carriage charge a retailer will pay is £8, regardless of order size. Catalogues for all brands are available and product images can be downloaded from the Kevco website.
THERE’S A NEW KID IN TOWN
No discussion with a lingerie wholesaler would be complete without talk shifting to the brash new kid on the block, Baci Lingerie. I wondered if Baci had made any impact on Kevco’s business... “In our view there’s been a lot of hype,” replies
Kevin Wooldridge & Mercedes: “Customers need a lot of information...” 46
Wooldridge. “We first saw it over a year ago and it seems like it’s been the longest launch in history. The goods weren’t even sold for about eight months after the initial launch. It has caused a lot of uncertainty in the market and only time will tell what it will do to all the other brands. All we can really go on so far is what we’ve seen in America, where it has had good and bad reviews. We feel it will level out and have a place in the marketplace, like all other brands, but we don’t yet know whose share it will take. From our customers who have tried it, we’re hearing good and bad, to be fair. We don’t doubt it will sell but all the money that has been spent on the branding, the awareness, the stands, the catalogues which are like photo albums... if they’d then said it was a high price then everyone would get it. To have done all that and then have the cheapest price... what’s the catch? I compare them to Primark. They are the cheapest on the High Street and people are queuing up to get it but Marks & Spencer isn’t going to close down. And since Baci launched in America no one else has disappeared out of the market.”
Erotic Trade Only June 2011
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