RETAIL WARRIORS
An influx of Canadian online retail sites are hoping to snag your shopping dollars
As the saying goes, “if you build it, they will come,” and Canadians now seem poised to put their credit cards and internet accounts through more fashionable paces. Though American flash-sale sites and online boutiques have been popular for the past five years (who hasn’t ogled Gilt.com or net-a-porter.com with seething jealousy?), the Great White North is finally seeing it’s own influx of web retailers. The newest kid taking on the Bloor Street retailers is ThePeacockParade.com, a flash-sale site launched last Wednesday to so much fanfare some members had to wait patiently to be allowed entry. “We always had friends shipping things to our address in the U.S., so we really recognized the value of this model, that could work for the Canadian market,” former New York City resident Jan Gandhi, (who, with Nancy Sahota, is one half of the fashion forward duo behind TPP), told us over the phone a few days before the site went live. “So, we’re doing this with a luxurious aesthetic and a very pleasing, members-only journey.”
Pleasing the seemingly wary Canadian consumer is top of mind for this latest onslaught of dot.com’ers, as other members-only sites, such as Prive.com, SSense.com and Dealuxe.ca, offer a similar mandate. “Being an early adopter to online shopping, I would often get frustrated with shipping fees, duties and other obstacles that made it difficult to shop from the U.S.,” Joanna Track, founder of Dealuxe.ca, which launched in May of this year, told us. “I realized there was a void in the Canadian marketplace for an online shopping site offering a ‘hassle-free’ experience. I saw this opportunity and seized the moment.” With over 42,000 unique visits to her site since it’s inception, Track, a well-known internet business woman (she also founded hugely successful e-newsletter Sweetspot.ca, which is now owned by Rogers), is keeping her site competitive by boasting a list of over 85 labels come this fall, including contemporary lines such as Frye, Hunter, Mackage, Bloch, Tibi and Pour La Victoire.
And while TPP tends to be more luxury label driven, (think: Fendi, Prada, Christian Dior and the like), smaller e-retailers have also seen success in the changing online landscape. One-woman brand Tia Star launched her namesake site (and yes, that’s her real name!) in December of 2009 and is not looking back. Tiastar.com, which started out as a dress retailer and celebrated order number 2,000 this past spring, now includes tops, jackets, blazers, pants and skirts from international and Canadian labels. “TiaStar.com has spread pretty easily and quickly due to word of mouth,” the entrepreneur tells FRM. “I hear from a lot of customers that they get stopped a lot when they are wearing something from TiaStar.com and are asked where they got it from.” The site, which has a no retouch policy on all it’s images and uses real women as models, caters to those looking for style at a good price.
It’s clear to see that as these online retailers make attempts at grabbing your hard earned cash, the competition will only benefit the consumer. Exclusive items (TPP already has exclusives from jewelry designer Jenny Bird and more), rare finds and labels not seen before in our home and native land, as well as the latest online technology advances, are only a few of said bonuses.
“Although we are a little behind the U.S. in terms of e-commerce,” notes Ghandi, “we have research that says Canadian e-commerce is increasing faster than the U.S. Canadians are embracing e-commerce more and more, and are now seeing it as a lower risk purchase.”
