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.
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www.interiorsonline.co.nz Treena Nixon and Caren Jasper launched www. interiorsonline.co.nz during September 2006 at the Auckland Home Show. While neither have previous experience in retail, both have studied Interior Design with Nanette Cameron and saw a need for a central hub to showcase all the incredible design sources they had been introduced to. What did you feel was missing from the retail sector that your website could provide? www.interiorsonline.co.nz works alongside retailers as our audience can research suppliers online prior to visiting retail stores and the site also showcases businesses they may not have been aware of. How important is social media to growing your business? Social media is becoming very important and a fantastic way to reach our audience on a more personal level with current information on new products, promotions and sales. We use Facebook for engaging with our audience and Pinterest to provide visual inspiration and a fantastic opportunity for viewers to hook back to our advertisers where possible. What have been the benefits to running an online business rather than a physical store? We feel there will always be a place for both retail stores and online businesses in the Interior Design sector. The ability to see colours and proportions and feel textures is very important as choosing interiors will always be a very sensory experience. Running an online business allows us to keep our information very current and saves our audience time which is becoming a very precious commodity in our busy lives these days. Our information is available online 24/7. www.kelseygenna.com Have you worked in retail previous to launching your website: if so where? I worked in a fabric store while I was at high school. It was a wonderful place to learn about fabrics and construction of garments! What did you feel was missing from the retail sector that your website could provide? As I was 16 when I started selling my designs online, my choice to base my label online was originally because it was the only feasible way to start up but now it is definitely my pick of places to trade and promote my label. Being based online means the whole world can be my marketplace and I also really value and enjoy being able to work one on one with my clients - which is something I would lose if I was selling my line through stockists. What strategic marketing plans have you put in place to drive your business? Up until this point I haven���t really had a strategic marketing plan, I have just been lucky enough to generate enough work through word of mouth via the internet! Are there any limitations? Probably the most obvious limitation with selling clothing online is that clients don���t have the opportunity to try pieces on. I have tried to resolve this by making my pieces made to measure and offering mock-ups for clients to try on before we make their actual orders. Do you believe online boutiques are the future of retail? Surely there will always be an important place for physical stores; I know the physical act of shopping is one of my favourite things to do! But I certainly think the internet will continue to play a big role in the future of shopping. www.le-faire.com Launched in May 2010 by Pauline So What did you feel was missing from the retail sector that your website could provide? Accessibility to boutique stores which would have previously been confined within cities, if not suburbs, and there was limited access to overseas brands. Having an online store made it easy for anyone anywhere to shop at his or her own leisure. How important is social media to growing your business? It has opened doors to other markets such as Australia, UK and Japan for us. Social media has also helped build and shape our brand in non-traditional ways. It���s also a key platform for communication with potential customers. What have been the obvious benefits to running an online business rather than a physical store? Low start-up costs and instant access to a much larger market - the world is pretty much yours to connect with. Are there any limitations? Establishing your presence among the clutter, you just have to work a little harder. Do you believe online boutiques are the future of retail? There will always be a place for brick and mortar stores. I see them as complimentary rather than a substitution; I, for one, love to shop both online and in stores so it makes sense to see online boutiques as an extension of the current retail landscape. www.h e rmagaz in e .co.n z | 61