Founded in 1913, Gina Bacconi is a leading occasionwear brand, renowned for their beautiful selection of mother of the bride and party dresses.
Traditionally, as a wholesaler, their designs could be found in womenswear boutiques and department stores, such as John Lewis and House Fraser.
In 2015, Gina Bacconi made the strategic decision to take their collection direct to the consumer by launching their own ecommerce website.
Although they were an established business, Gina Bacconi’s ecommerce experience was limited. In effect, they were a start-up, therefore requiring the expertise of a retail agency to implement a direct-to-consumer strategy and establish commercial objectives.
Challenges and strategy
By launching their full collection online (which was not available anywhere else), Gina Bacconi sought to enhance their customers’ experience and take ownership of the online space where their stockists were operating both online and offline, without cannibalising existing sales.
Furthermore, coming from a wholesale background, they had limited ecommerce experience and a relatively small team. Leapfrogg’s role blended strategic planning, advice on team structure and recruitment, and hands-on execution as Gina Bacconi went on the journey from wholesaler to retailer.
The core aspects of the strategy were concerned with:
• Harnessing existing awareness and the goodwill associated with the brand
• Maximising sales for their Spring/Summer 16 collection, their most important trading period
• Marketing and promoting existing product lines outside of their traditional ‘Mother of the Bride’ positioning
• Building awareness in new audiences, especially a younger demographic
Results
In nine months of trading, Leapfrogg has helped Gina Bacconi:
• Achieve online sales 97% above agreed forecast targets
• On track to achieve 30-40% above business target
• Grow paid media revenue by an average of 61.5% each month
• Deliver an average ROI of £13.41 via paid media
• Increase traffic by an average of 24% each month since launch
• Our work has contributed to an increase in conversion rate from 0.75% to 2.12% in Natural Search and from 1.03% to 2.18% on AdWords
• Prioritise our recommendations for internal resource across ecommerce, web development, and PR
• Put in place structure and process around content creation and social media to empower the in-house team to work more effectively
What did the client have to say?
“Leapfrogg were hugely helpful from the outset, calm, knowledgeable, always available, and completely focused on giving us everything we needed for a successful launch. They helped us capitalise on a strong e-commerce start, and remain valued digital marketing partners as we expand our digital footprint. I would strongly recommend them to any company thinking of – or already – operating in the premium retail space.”
Paul Goodman, Financial Director, Gina Bacconi