OneStopPlus a OneStopShop for Plus Sizers
Listen to an in-depth interview with Stephanie Sobel, president
of OneStopPlus.com. See
the RetailWire Podcast below…
Success in retail comes down to understanding your consumer. That has
been central to the mission of OneStopPlus.com, a division of Redcats US, which
bills itself as the the world’s first and largest website for plus-sized consumers.
Stephanie
Sobel, president of OneStopPlus.com, said the partnered website was launched
following surveys that showed plus-sized consumers were looking to find the
products they wanted in one location.
“It’s been challenging in many stores to find a great selection of plus-sized
apparel in her size,” Ms. Sobel told RetailWire.
The website,
according to Ms. Sobel, continually looks for new designers to add to the site
and meet the needs of its shoppers.
“We have new brands joining us all the time, and the idea is we have
over 7.5 million plus sized customers who are visiting our site, over a million
every month,” Ms. Sobel said. “Our goal again is to show our customers
that we have the widest possible range of selection.”
OneStopPlus is looking
to raise its profile in public events such as New York’s Fashion Week.
“We needed to have a presence during Fashion Week to demonstrate to the
plus-sized consumer that she’s included in this fashion world and needs to
have a fantastic selection just like every other customer,” said Ms. Sobel.
OneStopPlus
also went out and hired plus-sized super model Emme to serve as a brand ambassador.
Ultimately,
Ms. Sobel said, the core of OneStopPlus is taking care of the customer. A case
in point is the over one million product reviews on the site.
“Where she sees us fall short, we will go ahead and correct it,” said
Ms. Sobel. “Most of our products are (made) exclusively for us, so we’re
able to immediately react to what the customer is saying.”
Reviews on
the site led OneStopPlus to expand its pants selections to include more petites
and talls. Ms. Sobel said this is “the year of the pants” for
the site, which added “a variety of fits so the customer can find precisely
what she’s looking for as well as fit guides to help her to shop more easily
and feel very reassured that when she receives the product it’s going to make
her feel and look great.”
Discussion Questions: Is one stop shopping any more or less important in e-tail
as it is in brick and mortar retail? Are other e-tailers benefiting from customer
reviews to tailor product selection along the lines of OneStopPlus.com?
If plus size women feel they don’t get the attention they need (and we know they don’t), a one stop e-opportunity fits the bill, especially the way Ms. Sobel describes her approach.
This reminds me of how hard it was to find stylish maternity clothes way back when. Now there are specialty stores that cater to mothers to be in an extremely fashionable way…and emphasize how “hot” their bodies are.
Plus size women deserve the same attention and encouragement. OneStopPlus.com…you go girl!
OneStopPlus is a themed consolidator. The brands they boast also have their own stores and websites. You can find several of these brands on other consolidated websites such as AadvantageShopping.com (4 miles for every $ spent on Roaman brands), the fashion discount sites and MasterCard’s consolidated website.
This is the power of online. Themed consolidators make it easier for those using the internet to shop, minimizing search time and effort. For the brands (retailer) it brings in qualified customers who might not otherwise find their products.
OneStopPlus calls itself a shopping mall. In a sense it is. The difference is that they don’t have to build 1,000 shopping malls to reach all the plus-size customers wishing to buy. They only have to build one and it doesn’t cost any bricks or mortar, fixtures or labor.
This could be a winning idea, and a model for other under-served customer segments!
It’s interesting to turn the question around. Would it make sense to have a limited offering for a customer group that has a demonstrated difficulty in finding product? I think that the more that a niche web site can satisfy the broad requirements of their customer segment, the better off they will be.
One stop shopping on the Internet is a misnomer, since other websites are just a click away. There is no true “inconvenience” in a digital shopping world, and this includes niche as well as mainstream websites. It is great to differentiate your products, but segmenting your offering by offering it as a one-stop location is not truly applicable in our internet-enabled world. Great concept, but very little application.