Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/86221
Large marketing strategies have not been our approach... mainly because of a lack of large budgets! We've been more inclined to trial many approaches and test the results. But the one long-term goal we've always had is to build an authentic following, not through bribes or expensive campaigns, but by consistently communicating with our audience. By working with all media, including social media, and providing genuinely interesting, unique stories about NZ creative people and what they're about as well as making. WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BENEFITS TO RUNNING AN ONLINE BUSINESS RATHER THAN A PHYSICAL STORE? The obvious biggie is the lack bricks and mortar costs... leases, facilities, staff, power, insurance, etc. The second is, there is no limit to the size and number of products you can 'stock' online so you can offer a wide range of options. This of course is limited if you do buy stock and have to warehouse. Another for me is flexibility. I can be anywhere in the country, even overseas, and still run the business. I love it when I get up in the morning and find sales have been made while I was asleep. And when all the bricks and mortar retailers are working frantically up to Christmas Eve, I'm already at the bach. ARE THERE ANY LIMITATIONS? The hardest aspect of a successful online business is building and retaining customers. They don't know you exist; you're invisible to start with. Not only does it take time, but it takes resources in manpower [which is cost] and a consistent spend on online [and offline] marketing. Again cost. It requires skill and a huge dose of determination to succeed. You have to have a hundred [or thousand] times the customers you get in a physical store because the conversion rate of visits to sales is so small online. The other and very obvious limitation is the lack of physical contact between customer and product. Designer products that have a high level of craftsmanship still provoke a desire to touch. DO YOU BELIEVE ONLINE BOUTIQUES ARE THE FUTURE OF RETAIL? I believe that online boutiques will grow rapidly, though there will always be demand for the physical experience. That cannot be replaced entirely. However, with increasing innovation around the online shopping experience, and the benefits of convenience and the power the customer has in searching for options, there are no limits. The NZ Spa St :The NZ Spa Story ory Donna Smith, one of New Zealand's most respected beauty industry members and owner of Professional Skin & Beauty, recently launched a beautiful new made in New Zealand body treatment range, NZ Spa. Says Donna, "Over the years, I noticed on overseas trips that every spa had beauty therapy and spa treatment products made in their own country but that New Zealand didn't have one specifically tailored for the professional market." "With the help of my General Manager Michelle Woodyard who has a passion for ingredients, we formulated the products. We wanted a simple and affordable range but with a luxurious feel. New Zealand is a brand of its own with its clean green image and I didn't want any harmful chemicals. It had to be a simple clean range with a feel good factor, which also captures the essence of our beautiful country and NZ native plants. The range contains fragrant essences such as Pohutukawa, Wild Daisy, Alpine Fern and Flax Flower and includes a Body Scrub, Body lotion, Shower gel, Body Mask and Massage oil. As well as the body treatment products we also wanted to add on a retail section so that the client could take some of the NZ Spa experience home in the form of candles, soaps or a diffuser. The retail range also makes ideal gifts and offers a body lotion, body scrub, body soufflé and shower gel, along with candles, diffusers and soaps." NZ Spa is committed to creating eco-friendly products and packaging. The product is made in New Zealand to keep the carbon footprint low, with all recyclable packaging. It is not tested on animals and the formulations are naturally free of SLS or parabens. Both Donna and Michelle believe that the brand should also give something back to New Zealand, and because of the spa/water link, $1.00 from every full size retail body care product is donated to Surf Life Saving New Zealand. "It's been a lot of fun developing this range," Donna says. "We've kept it in the family with Michelle heavily involved in the whole process and my brother overseeing the artwork and logo design. We hope we've developed a lovely, simple yet luxurious range that will give people the feel good factor and remind them of how blessed we are with this beautiful country." NZ Spa is sold through professional skincare therapists and spas. www.nzspa.co.nz Images supplied by www.cleverbastards.co.nz www.hermagazine.co.nz | 41