It’s been a weird time, with so many different effects for different people. For us, buying virtually, as we’ve had to do for this season, has seemed strange.
Buying via Zoom and WhatsApp being new to me. One brand was sending me 200 WhatsApp images at a time – which was a bit overwhelming. I’ve always prided myself on having enough imagination to buy from Line Sheets. However, when it comes to the whole of your stock being bought this way, it’s especially difficult, as touch, feel and hang are so important to us.
I’m so a hands-on people person and I think that comes across in the shops and with the team. Also, I’m not a technical person, as anyone who knows me would realize. So it’s been a very unusual way to do business. What is key is how well you do the following season, when the stock actually comes in.
We know that a lot of our customers expect beautiful, unusual fabrics that feel wonderful. This is made more difficult to achieve when you are not able to buy face to face.
When buying virtually, for brands new to Covet, it can be difficult knowing what to expect:
- One brand, that’s new to us, is Denim Studio. Luckily the fabric is beautiful and they look great on.
- Another new brand is Cecile Copenhagen, which is a lovely, woven quality fabric. Exactly what I’d hoped for!
- Scarlett Poppies has been a triumph. Despite not being able to see them in real life, their pieces are stunningly beautiful.
Whereas, with some of our old favorites, we knew pretty much what to expect:
- Dream lovely fine cotton from Greece
- Grizas beautiful washed linens from Lithuanian.
- Blank and Conditions Apply lovely natural fabrics with beautiful prints and embroidery.
- Mos Mosh always superb quality denim
- Masai has never disappointed in its quality.
We have a lot of customers who don’t really like shopping and, thankfully, quite a few who do. Very much our USP is that people love the array of colors and the feel of the garments.
I always feel that even if someone doesn’t buy anything, but they appreciate the look and feel, then it’s a win!
