SimplyBe [site: www.simplybe.co.uk] is part of the N Brown trading group which is the most successful direct home shopping company in the UK. The group was first established in 1882 and was the first company to send their goods using the postal system. SimplyBe offer fashionable plus size clothes to women their 30’s and up.
In 2009 when their online sales were continuing to rise at a rate of 40% and retail growth was at a credit crunch defying 9%, SimplyBe tested the international market by launching in Germany.
This year the SimplyBe profits have risen by 13% and now they plan to launch in the USA where they hope to share 22 billion pounds plus size US market.
They plan to launch onto the plus size US market in July and target 1 million potential customers with their 48 page catalogue in August.
N Brown told Reuters “The key will be how quickly we can build that customer base up,”
The plus size US market launch will be a trial, following the successful trial in Germany, and only cost N Brown less than 1 million pounds. The low cost of the launch will be helped by the fact that all American orders will be dealt with from the UK thus cutting costs of setting up in the US.
N Brown believes that SimplyBe will target the older women’s plus size US market, something that is not being done at the moment.
An analyst from Shore Capital, Kate Calvert believes N Brown “is well positioned with limited competition in the outsize market to take advantage of changing demographics.”
In the UK, N Brown has weathered the recession better than most retailers, helped by its position in the market. Its customers, with an average age of 57, tend to have stable incomes. Now N Brown hopes that launching onto the plus size US market will further strengthen their brand.
Source: Reuters
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