Exclusive Q&A: Luxury handbag reseller sharpens customer focus

An Instagram retailer is overhauling its customer experience for improved personalization and ease of use.

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Julia Carney, founder of Instagram-based luxury handbag reseller Julia Rose Boston, about how a shift in its e-commerce infrastructure has enabled her company to streamline the shopping experience while enhancing personalization.

What made you decide to utilize a third-party e-commerce platform?

“We encountered some growing pains last year, mainly due to our manual selling and inventory process. This led to accidentally overselling, which in turn led to customer and team frustration—not ideal for a growing business. Our team was confused and disoriented, spending more time putting out fires then growing the business. The sudden growth was becoming a hindrance, not a propeller.

“Having to adapt to the growing audience and orders, we knew we needed a new solution. Our business and product manager tested over 14 different platforms, thoroughly researching which solution was going to be best. And after much deliberation, we took a leap of faith and migrated from our previous platform to Ecwid, based on the ease of use and authentic customer connection.” 

What made you select Ecwid?

“One of the real priorities for us when choosing a technology was to keep it very personal. We maintain very strong relationships with our audience on social media, so it was important to select a platform that replicated this. 

“Our audience was trained to buy on social media before we started using Ecwid. I wanted to keep the buying process somewhat familiar to what they were accustomed. Ecwid allows us to build an online storefront without having to disconnect ourselves and our audience from social media. 

“Products can only be found through Instagram stories, creating an urgency for shoppers to buy, since they can’t browse our inventory. The only way to see what is available is through our Instagram stories. The Instagram story feature only keeps posts up for 24 hours, though sometimes they're reposted and people can message us. Ecwid is great, because a major complaint customers always had was in the direct messaging process to purchase an item.

“Our inbox was always flooded with messages, and sometimes the bag was sold by the time we could respond. We use Ecwid, because it allows customers to swipe up on our products and purchase on a first-come-first-serve basis. Then you know, if you see the product and like it, it’s yours. 

“Their solution aligned with what we can see in the market and what people want. We're not a huge inventory-based business. Ecwid allows us to expedite sales because it’s super tailored to our market.” 

What benefits have you received?

“Since switching to the new platform, before the pandemic, we saw a sales increase month-over-month. After the migration, we saw an overall increase of 43% (comparing September 2019 vs February 2020). 

“We’ve been able to add a few new business tools as well: ShipStation, Automated Abandoned Cart Emails, and Back-In-Stock Notifications. More importantly, the feedback from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive. They are thrilled with the new and improved check-out experience. 

“Our team also reaped the benefits, since another reason we opted for Ecwid was because of how easy it was for our whole team to use. We have a diverse team with different tech levels, and we need to onboard employees quickly. Overall, we have seen an improvement in morale since starting with Ecwid. With a remote team, having a solution that is easy to use and manage, saves the team precious time and energy.”

What are the unique challenges of being an entrepreneurial business in digital retail and selling on Instagram?

“The platform can be limiting. Instagram is not set up as a sales channel, so managing customer issues, responding to inquiries, and showcasing the diversity of our product beyond the 24-hour post cycle can be a challenge. But it is also a blessing during a pandemic. Social-based sales platforms often promote connectivity at a time of social distancing, so we saw an increase in engagement, buying, and interaction over the last few months. 

“We create a connection to our buyer base through our sales approach and platform. We are personalized and in-depth. We are relatable: we showcase a curated selection of products that we have often tried, tested and worn ourselves. We also work to represent women of different sizes—particularly those with curves. I myself model the product when possible, which helps women visualize the piece on their own figures. 

“Another challenge we face is not having the bandwidth or budget that the bigger brands have. They can devote the time and resources to pushing their products, where we are only as big as our team. Other businesses can automate their Instagram messaging, but we choose not to automate tasks. Because we rely on that personal connection with our audience, so we strictly manually manage our social media channels. 

“Sometimes as a small business, we get customers who question our credibility. Other brands have built recognition on the platform, where we are in the process of showcasing who we are. We try to give a behind-the-scenes look and use our team to showcase the products.”

What challenges has COVID-19 created, and how have you met them?

“We had already been selling online prior to COVID, but our strategy changed. We knew our volume and cash flow would decrease without regular access to our full inventory. We thus focused on high-demand styles and models that would sell easily. However, our ability to acquire new goods continues to be a challenge as many brands have slowed production.

“Our traditional, global supply chains changed their pricing and procurement practices during the pandemic. Without steady access to new items in Europe, goods in secondary markets overseas rose in cost. We have closely monitored the number of pieces that we post to ensure that we can keep them in stock. Our supply chains have slowed, so we shifted our content to stock that we know we have more regular access to.

“In addition, our buyer demographic shifted, and skewed more toward the premium end of our range. We saw our average order value increase by $400. This has been a change from the beginning of the pandemic when we were only seeing an interest in lower-cost items. 

“We reduced our staff early on, for safety issues and the uncertainty that comes with selling luxury in the midst of a pandemic. At that same time, our sales continued to grow quite rapidly, which created capacity issues. 

“The current challenge we face is a domestic shipping issue, in shipping out orders and receiving our packages. Many carriers have become unreliable, and we’ve lost countless packages recently which we take the cost for. We don’t have insurance, so the team is regrouping on a solution.”