When Sydneysider, Tessa Durack moved to Darwin several years ago little did she know that the experience would lead to her owning and running a successful online women’s apparel business.
During her time in Darwin Tessa started the Frond Store, a bricks and mortar retail shop that sold carefully selected women’s apparel that appealed to the laid back aesthetic of the tropical north.
The business thrived, so when she moved back to Sydney Tessa did not want to waste all the goodwill that she had generated via the physical retail business.
Rather than sell off her remaining inventory Tessa decided to take the plunge into e-commerce and resolved to take her business online.
Online moves
After reviewing several website design companies, Tessa approached Fatpublisher to help her on her e-commerce journey.
Fatpublisher reviewed the requirements and took into account the particular style of the Frond brand personality.
After consulting with Tessa on the various strengths of various e-commerce platforms, Fatpublisher created a complete customise-designed e-commerce solution powered by Shopify, with ready to go e-commerce features. The solution was sufficiently flexible to allow design customisation that allowed the Frond Store brand to shine through.
According to Tessa Durack, founder and owner of the Frond Store, “I had built up the Frond Store’s reputation and branding, and it seemed like a terrible waste to just shut it down. Also, I wanted to work from home, and it seemed like a good solution.
“However, the world of commerce was a foreign country to me. I was a total newbie – I was starting from scratch.
“The guys at Fatpublisher were terrific and very patient! Any issues that came up were quickly resolved.
“Fatpublisher created a cost effective, full featured e-commerce solution that looks great, is easy to use and is easy to for me to administer. After a bit of guidance, I was soon loading the products onto the site without any problems.
Personality shines through
Fatpublisher also created a website design that reflected the style of the Frond Store and its customer base.
“I had a clear vision for the tone of my business,” Tessa said. “I think it has a distinct feel and I wanted to maintain that. It had to be very easy for the customer to use and had to be user-friendly for me. I had to be able to run it without constantly calling Fatpublisher.
“The result is fantastic. My customers find it very straightforward to use and I can update it whenever I need to.”
Whilst retail conditions are undoubtedly tough, Tessa believes her business is set up to grow now that it has made the transition from bricks and mortar to online. With reduced overheads, she can now afford to be very price-competitive.
Power of online
And along the way she discovered the power of the data analytics that are readily available to help her make real-time changes to her online presence.
“The good thing about online retail is that it allows me to be instantly responsive to whatever improvements I need to make in running the business,” she said.
“Virtual retailing allows me to tweak my online presence based on hard evidence – the analytics of my customers’ online behaviour is clear. For example, if something isn’t opened I know something is wrong and I can fix it straightaway such as better product descriptions. I can now be completely responsive to customer feedback.”
Fatpublisher also created email marketing templates that the Frond Store can apply as part of its digital marketing strategy. The solution has low ongoing costs and flexible easy to use email marketing system.
Fatpublisher has helped me negotiate the online e-commerce world, and whilst all retailing is experiencing tough times, I know I’m now set up to embrace the future,” Tess said.
Fatpublisher provides a range of website design services to our clients. If you are interested in finding out about our web design services, please contact us.
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