Baukjen on taking America and opening pop-ups
British retailer The
Baukjen Group is at a major crossroads, it has two very successful fashion
labels, Isabella Oliver offering premium maternitywear, and Baukjen, a
contemporary fashion label offering capsule wardrobes for busy modern
women, and they are looking to their customers to help put Baukjen on
America’s radar in a “big way” with their crowdfunding campaign to raise
400,000 pounds.
Following an investors breakfast with key customers at their head
office, a former post office in Kentish Town, FashionUnited sat down with
Geoff van Sonsbeeck, co-founder and chief executive of the e-tailer to find
out more about why they feel Baukjen will be a success in America, why
crowdfunding, as well as their plans to launch roaming pop-ups across the
UK.
There’s a real buzz as we walked through the office, and it isn’t a
surprise as this is a British retail group that has seen its net sales
increase by around 26 percent over the last two years, and in April 2018 it
reported annual sales of 18 million pounds, and this online native group is
looking to expand upon this into 2019 as it looks to replicate the success
of its premium maternity label, Isabella Oliver with its contemporary
sister brand, Baukjen.
Currently, the US accounts for 55 percent of Isabella Oliver sales,
which the fashion group states is continuing to grow, however, maternity
clothing is very niche, “The relationship you have with a customer is of
course very short, they sometimes say it’s like you’re always on the first
date,” states Geoff van Sonsbeeck, and they are now looking to Baukjen with
its broader appeal to put the British fashion group on the global map.
“In six years we have grown Baukjen to over 170,000 customers, and I
would say it really is a UK brand to date, probably 95 percent of our
customers are in the UK,” explains van Sonsbeeck. “But what we’ve come to
realise is, and again by popular demand from customers, but also by
celebrities wearing us in the US that we can just see that there is a real
proactive demand from the US coming our way.”
Van Sonsbeeck added: “We are increasingly selling there and what we
would do is implement a carefully orchestrated marketing approach where we
replicate our tactics from the UK and roll that out in the US. We have a
great advantage over a whole range of other companies who will say it’s the
promised land of America and actually many of them fail there, we however,
have a great advantage that we’ve done it for 13 years with Isabella
Oliver.
“We know the suppliers, we know how to run it from the UK. We know that
we do not need boots on the floor, we don’t need expensive offices,
overhead structures, we can actually run it in a very orchestrated
approach, with social, digital marketing and direct marketing. The product
is right and a customer is in almost insatiable volumes in the US in a
booming economy and we know that we can do it.”
Baukjen launches crowdfunding campaign to raise 400,000 pounds
“The big gap is the resources to really make it happen because the one
thing we’ve learned over the years is temptation is the dangerous one, and
the US is a huge opportunity with, in our case, low risk, but it needs ring
fenced capital,” said Van Sonsbeeck. “It needs to have enough budget to
say, now we’re going to do a big push, because we’re not going to do it
lighthearted, we either do it properly or we don’t and that’s why we need
about 200,000 pounds. This is what we need to get to a certain scale, by
which time the newly established customer base in the US generates enough
volume to sustain itself and drives further acquisition.”
Van Sonsbeeck, added: “It’s a real opportunity, clear and present and we
want to grab it.”
Baukjen via a Crowdcube campaign is looking to raise 400,000 pounds in
return for 3.02 percent equity stake, but while crowdfunding is a great way
for start-ups to get investment and get their name out there it hasn’t been
used as much for more established businesses and Baukjen thinks this is
changing.
Why crowdfunding? “Because it’s not too much and is not enough to go to
private equity, also friends of ours own Mr & Mrs Smith just raised highly
successfully there and it was just listening to how they managed to
mobilise their customer base by turning them into ambassadors and you know,
it resonated with what we stand for.”
Van Sonsbeeck, continued: “We have very loyal, engaged relationship with
our customers and just being in a position where we can invite them to be
part of this journey in another way than just buying from us, but actually
being part of the course and become a shareholder in that journey – just
made sense to us.
“I think it’s only recently that it has been a real opportunity for
established businesses to look at, and I think it’s here to stay and
rightly so, because now if you have a passion for a brand you can be part
of it.”
While the American expansion is one of the biggest goals for Baukjen,
the contemporary womenswear label is also looking to bring the brand closer
to the UK customer, as well as attract a new audience, and the crowdfunding
will also help develop a physical presence with concessions and pop-ups.
There will be a constant roll our of pop-ups for the brand starting next
year in the UK, with a least three pop-ups running at any one time across
the country, added the fashion company.
“Pop-ups we really believe in for so many reasons to be closer to the
customer, to really let them feel and experience the brand in a three
dimensional way in and to engage with customers because we only get better
by learning, as well as for sheer brand awareness,” explained van
Sonsbeeck. “It’s good to be present in places where digital doesn’t reach.”
He added: “I would mostly follow my customer, which of course we know
very well where they are, but equally the whole idea is that you open up in
places where you haven’t reached yet. I would definitely expect one in
London at any time, as well as maybe Exeter, Bath or Glasgow.”
But don’t expect permanent standalone stores anytime soon, “As an
e-commerce player, I like to be agile and flexible and be able to move as
the customer moves – so I will never find myself locked into longterm
leases,” van Sonsbeeck explained.
Baukjen’s crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube closes on January 18, with
investors receiving various rewards, such as gift vouchers, VIP cards
offering discounts, as well as personal online styling sessions,
invitations to investor drinks with the brand, and for people investing
more than 50,000 pounds they can expect a dinner with the founders.
As of December 18, The Baukjen Group’s crowdfunding campaign had raised
over 66 percent of its target with 265,530 pounds from 194 investors.
Images: courtesy of Baukjen