Cyber Skivvies
Lingerie retailers head to the Web
The Internet could be the next frontier for independent lingerie retailers, who are tapping into consumers’ growing interest in shopping for fashion online.
Online lingerie retailing is not exactly uncharted territory.
British e-tailer Figleaves.com, which started in 2000, currently boasts over 200 brands on the Web site and claims to be the largest online site selling intimate apparel. In 2003, the Web site exclusively launched the Elle Macpherson Intimates line in the United Kingdom, weeks ahead of its bricksand- mortar competition.
Victoria’s Secret, the behemoth of lingerie to the mass audience, earned $1.2 billion in 2006 from catalog and Internet sales. Parent company Limited Brands does not break down Internet sales specifically.
For small manufacturers, online lingerie sales direct to consumers can help bolster their wholesale business.
“Ten percent of our total revenue comes from online sales [through our official Web site],” said Noah Walsh, sales representative for Los Angeles–based Underglam. Styles sold on Underglam’s direct-to-consumers Web site, www.underglam.com, are different than those available to wholesale accounts for the season.
The increase in lingerie sales online is part of the overall increase in lingerie sales through all retail channels. Consumer spending on lingerie overall grew 10.7 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to a recent study on lingerie sales conducted by the NPD Group Inc. In the direct-mail and e-tail pure-play channel, there was a 4.4 percent increase in sales.
Within the past few years, a number of lingerie e-tailers, such as Hipundies.com, Tangafinelingerie.com and Graffitipink.com, have sprouted onto the scene, wooing customers with online-store concepts ranging from highlighting up-and-coming lingerie brands to specializing in European luxury to catering to the young and adventurous fashion customer.
Entering the e-tail business as opposed to a bricks-and-mortar boutique was a no-brainer decision for the founder of Hipundies.com, Miracle Wanzo.
The entrepreneur lives in Benicia, Calif., near the Silicon Valley and saw potential for the online retail market despite the technical challenges.
“When you look at bricks-andmortar stores, for the most part department stores [and regional chain stores] have dominated that landscape,” said Wanzo, who started Hipundies.com three years ago. “But the Internet has provided an opportunity for independent retailers to really become dominant players, and [Hipundies.com] hopes to grow to be that someday.”
Wanzo cited the example of Shopbop.com, which started as a single retail location in Madison, Wis. The online store is now one of the largest online sellers of contemporary apparel and was bought by Amazon.com in February 2006. It would take a significant amount of capital to grow a bricksand- mortar business to the same level, Wanzo said.
The brand selection sold at Hipundies.com reads like a greatest-hits list, with brands including Eberjey, Cosabella, La Cosa and Le Mystegrave;re. While customers may reach the site searching for a wellknown line such as the “Oprah bra” for Le Mystegrave;re, oftentimes brands with boutique appeal—such as Betsey Johnson Intimates, Los Angeles–based Fleur’t or Los Angeles–based Lucy B.—end up in their shopping cart.
Wanzo designed the site to look neat and uncluttered and feel like a neighborhood boutique with a mix of styles that have a playful, humorous and down-to-earth mood. Each item has a lengthy description to help with fitting, such as the rise on panties, the dress size equivalent for panties and details about the design. For weekly tabloid followers, there is a section on celebrity-favorite styles.
When Bonnie Vicari traveled to Paris, she fell in love with the French and Italian lingerie brands offered at the upscale shops. Once back in the United States, she thought she could find the same comprehensive selection in major cities when she traveled for her work as a chemical engineer.
“I would go and search out every lingerie boutique there was, and I could never find [these European brands],” said Vicari.
In March 2006, she launched Tangafinelingerie.com from her home in Chicago to help women find a comprehensive selection of European lingerie in one stop.
Vicari carries brands such as Aubade, Argentovivo, Chantelle, Simone Peacute;regrave;le, I.D. Sarrieri, Barbara, Ravage and Lise Charmel, among others.
Many of her customers are women who live in cities that don’t have upscale lingerie stores nearby, Vacari said, adding that men often take advantage of the luxurious satin gift wrap for gifts, which compose a large percentage of her business.
“Over 50 percent of the people who shop in my store are men who like to give them as gifts to women,” said Vacari and continued, “Anybody on an average income, on a very special occasion, can make this very special purchase, [and] people with lots of disposable income can buy several collections.”
Though the leading Italian and French brands are available on other Web sites, Vicari makes a point to carry several groups and styles from each brand to give a more comprehensive selection. There is also a special “in stock” feature that shows the number of pieces still available in specific sizes.
Fit is always an issue with online shopping, so Vicari translates the sizes from European to American sizes and offers the option to return or exchange, though she said most customers are usually smitten.
She estimates that fewer than 5 percent of sales are returned.
As an online shopper, Jasmine Imani believed that the look of a Web site made a huge difference in the shopping experience. When Imani teamed up with partner Light Silver to create Graffitipink.com, she was interested in creating an e-commerce site that was visually dynamic and exciting for the customer. Imani met Silver while working at an online company together.
Other lingerie e-commerce sites “were kind of boring to us,” Imani said. “It wasn’t as cool looking as a Shopbop.com or Kitson online or any of those stores.”
The lingerie Web sites that made the grade by Imani’s standards were e-tailers based in Europe and the corporate Web sites for European-based lingerie lines.
For the look of Graffitipink.com, Imani was inspired by the spirit of European lingerie companies with artsy campaigns that elevated the look of lingerie as high fashion. The site has now come to look like an online magazine, with attentiongrabbing graphics and original photography.
Graffitipink.com went live for business in December 2006 and carries a mix of bestsellers (Hanky Panky), lesser-known fashion-forward lines (Malicious Designs), jewelry (CC Skye) and its own label of Modal loungewear, Cotton Candy.
Imani saw the potential of e-commerce sites when she ran an eBay business with her brother that eventually grew to become its own e-commerce Web site. In the first six months, their site, which specialized in reselling computer software, grossed $2 million.
“The way we were able to reach people from anywhere over the Internet, I knew that online shopping was going to be a huge thing,” Imani said.
