[Wed 30/01/2008 02:28:47]

Fashion retailer Sportsgirl has launched a new e-commerce website to capitalise on the growth of online retail spending and drive sales outside its 100+ national store network.

The new website and online store is designed to further connect Sportsgirl with its Generation Y audience, and enable the retailer to drive the brand in outer suburban, regional and international locations throughout Australia beyond its retail outlets.

Targeting a broad generation of Sportsgirl customers (14 – 30), the site is designed to bring alive the in-store experience – whether it be shopping for something specific or wanting to feel inspired by the latest summer trends.

“The site has been created to make Sportsgirl’s customers very comfortable with the online shopping experience, and give them access to product that is either not available in-store, or available first online,” said Peter Noble, CEO at digital agency Citrus.

“As one of the biggest retail brands in Australia, Sportsgirl is blazing a trail in terms of an e-commerce-enabled site that is a real showpiece for the brand. The site not only offers a well crafted shopping experience, but reinforces the Sportsgirl brand as the fashion leader that makes it fun,” said Noble.

“We specifically partnered with Citrus because of their strategic approach to the project. We knew that the online environment, if executed appropriately, could respond to the critical success factors we identified: sales growth, the ability to interact and play with the brand, and creating an emotional connection to the lifestyle needs of our customer. The Facebook link is a great example of Citrus’ ability to understand our vision for the site,” said Elle Roseby, CEO at Sportsgirl.

Noble said the e-commerce functionality and site usability is built on the models of leading global retail websites. “We’ve taken the shopping experience to new levels with shopping tools designed to ‘socialise’ the online shopping experience. For example, customers can add their favourite items to Facebook allowing their friends to vote on whether they thought the item was ‘hot or not’.

“We’ve also been able to address a major issue for online retailers in reducing shopping cart abandonment by creating a ‘My Favourites’ tab, which allows our audience to keep items for later viewing and purchase.
 
Citrus has integrated the world-leading Omniture Site Catalyst Business Analytics Platform across the site to measure how customers interact with the website and to evaluate audience response to online marketing campaigns and promotions.

“With this insight into customer preferences and behaviours, Citrus can assist Sportsgirl to continuously optimise its online effectiveness and increase customer retention,” said Noble.