2018 was one of the best and biggest years we've ever had. For the first time we added more than 100 items to the shop in a single year and reached 1000 references for sale. This has brought us some new challenges that are important to talk about, both in the front office and the back office.
On a visual level, we had to make several adjustments to the website. It was necessary to create new categories and separate some articles. Nobody wants to see more than 100 T-shirts or jumpers and jackets mixed together. Such huge growth meant the creation of several new categories and the separation of items in order to keep the shop organised and more structured so that customers could easily and quickly find what they were looking for.
2019
Categories
Curiously, this year we find ourselves with the same (good) "problem". With the success of last year's strategy, we decided to expand on this solution.
We're still in February and the news is so good that we've added nearly 200 new articles by now, which is unprecedented. We still have a fairly extensive list of promotional textiles to add to the online shop, but you'll hardly feel overwhelmed by them as we continue to divide the products into categories.
I'll give you two examples. Caps and bags. All caps ARE NOT the same. There are caps, hats and panamas. Even within caps, there are mesh caps, snapback caps, promotional caps, etc. The same goes for bags: there are travelling bags, beach bags, shopping bags, cloth bags, etc.
Not only are the items different, but the customers looking for them are also different.
What we're trying to do is separate these articles so that you don't have to scroll through 100 (in some cases even more) references to find the one you're looking for. Now you only have to search between 17 or 23 (in some cases even less), finding what you're looking for more quickly, even if there are more products in the catalogue.
This strategy also has a hidden advantage for us. It allows us to realise in which areas we have an excess of supply and in which areas we are failing and to compensate there.
Ecological clothing
Note that I didn't mention organic. Organic cotton is undoubtedly a focus for us and it's an area in which we continue to invest a lot, but we're "beyond" organic. We're investing in bringing in clothes made from recycled cotton, which is much more environmentally friendly than organic cotton. We also have caps and beanies made from recycled polyester.
The difference? In order to grow organic cotton, there must be the usual cotton growth. Soil saturation, harvesting and the like. With recycled cotton we have a fabric that has already been used and is now being REUSED, using fewer resources on our planet. This will be one of our focuses. After all, we aim to recycle up to 80 per cent of everything we produce in-house, so why not offer our customers the option of buying clothes made in the same way?
Clothing and Sporting Goods
This is one of the areas in which we have invested the most this year in new articles, with around 20 per cent of the total number of new items in 2019 coming here. Thanks to the good categorisation, you probably didn't realise.
We noticed that it was an area where we had a very poor selection of products, both in quantity and in options to choose from, everything being too "basic". We decided to get down to work and populate this category with the best sports t-shirts on the market, with different cuts, colours and fabrics, and we've brought you various sports aids such as cones, whistles and even referee cards.
Gifts
We're not going to move away from what we focus on, promotional textiles, but this year we're going to offer our customers some promotional gifts as well. This will be an area in which we will select our offer very carefully, not shying away from what is our "typical" item or what could complement the items we sell. We rely on the Impacto brand to offer this type of product, all of which can be delivered within 24/48 hours.
Sol's
Finally, this is probably where we feel most proud.
We were able to negotiate better prices and conditions for our customers with Sol's, which allowed us to lower prices by up to 26 per cent on a total of 84 different items. There are 84 references that we already had online with price reductions.
It's not a promotion, it's not a discount, it's a permanent price reduction! All the new products also include the new pricing policy, so in addition to these 84 products there are dozens more to take into account with new prices.
These products will soon have immediate deliveries again, once the logistics warehouse near Portugal is up and running, so it can only get better from here 🙂
Option of two deliveries!
We left the best for last. This was an option garmented by many customers and which we are finally offering.
We finally have a solution that allows you to receive your order in two instalments when you order items that include garments with a delivery standard of 24/48 hours and others with a standard of one week. We finally have a solution that allows you to receive your order in two instalments when you order items that include garments with a delivery standard of 24/48 hours and others with a standard of one week. The first shipment is made within 24 hours (48 hours) and the second when the rest of the goods are ready. This way you can work on a few items and save or even save time in various circumstances.
