Selfridges, the world famous upmarket department store has drastically stepped up online investment with a revamped website, which aims to “Future-proof” its multi-channel business. At £40 million, this marks the single largest investment in the brand's Selfridges.com website since it launched in 2010. The most important aspect of the revamp, which was unveiled on Wednesday and was created in-house with Salmon over the past 18 months, is an improvement in how the site responds to mobile devices, which are fast becoming the default platform from which most consumers partake in online shopping. Curated content has also been given greater prominence on the homepage, which includes user-generated content from social media.
The most important aspect of the revamp is an improvement in how the site responds to mobile devices
Selfridges.com also adds around 100 new brands to the site, including products by Burberry, Bruno Cucinelli and Victoria Beckham, meaning the site now stocks more than 80% of the brands and products available in stores. It also recently signed a deal with Cartier to sell the renowned French jewellers products on its site. On the subject of the Cartier deal, Simon Forester, Selfridges' multichannel director, has said “There’s the whole question of will people buy jewellery online,” but believes that “If people will buy it in store, they will look at in online,” and feels they need to give their customers the choice.
Sarah Jones from “Luxury Daily” discusses the new Selfridges.com
Selfridges.com is the “UK leader of its category” with more than 1 million visits per week, which is around 30% more than its closest “Premium online department store competitor” (I'm going to go out on a limb here and say 'Harrods'). Online sales have more than doubled in the 4 years since the site launched, with more than a quarter of its business from outside the UK. Forester says the site's “Simple content strategy” is that they want to eventually put everything that's available in-store online. He admits that whilst they're “Not there yet,” they are making “Big strides towards it.” He also adds that the luxury customers the brand is courting tend to use digital devices more than anyone else. He says that “No one comes to Selfridges and buys a coat because they’re cold. It’s all about the brand,” and believes the challenge is that whilst they already have a great brand, they “Need to make work in a digital format.”
The site's “Simple content strategy” is that they want to eventually put everything that's available in-store online
Claire Higgins, Selfridges' head of digital, adds that “The site is integral” to the brand, but says “Wider projects planned like Wi-Fi in-store and thinking about how Selfridges’ consumers interact with the brand as well as the international business and localisation.” Selfridges is not the only department store to up its online game of late though. US department store Neiman Marcus recently purchased fashion retailer mytheresa.com in order to bolster its online. Harvey Nichols has also recently announced that it'll be revamping its own official website under the instructions of new boss Stacey Cartwright, who took the reigns back in January after being promoted from the role of finance director.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who once spent a wonderful (and expensive) wednesday afternoon at the Selfridges champagne bar.
