12 April 2007

Just Bras

Two years ago, Rochdale-based Jacqui and Richard Lowe-Jackson decided to start a new business, and realised they could streamline all their business processes by working over the internet.

The duo focussed on women’s underwear as the business’ core product, plugging a gap in the market by supplying a range of niche sizes and styles.  They started off by selling underwear on ebay, and within the first 12 months of trading, the business was positioned in the top 5 ladies UK garment sellers on the auction site.

In response to this early success, they then set up a stand-alone ecommerce website (www.justbras.co.uk) to sell their units through, in order to increase their customer base further.

Jacqui says, “As a start up business, using the internet as our retail hub enabled us to reach a wide customer base very quickly.  We now sell to people based all around the world, and even as far away as Australia.

“Running the business online reduced the risk for us, as it was a way of keeping overheads down from the offset.   This helped us, in turn, to provide customers with a competitive retail price, meaning we could compete with the bigger distributors from a very early stage - the internet immediately puts you on a level playing field with the competition.”

Using the internet as its reselling tool has also meant that the business could very easily be diversified into other markets, such as when they set up a specific wholesale website to sell bras to shops (www.justbras-wholesale.co.uk).  Just Bras is able to buy stock in bulk that they can break down into manageable amounts for small retail businesses, which then buy online via the dedicated website.  By providing better support for its sales channels, Just Bras has been able to increase the breadth of the sectors it sells in to.

The couple recently set up a fourth online selling avenue: www.justbras-partyplan.co.uk.  This website sells bras to individuals at a discounted, trade rate for them to sell on themselves directly at parties etc.  Its aim is to help people, such as young mums, to earn money in a flexible way.

In the first 24 months of trading, the business has grown to selling over 60,000 units a year, and it is now predicting sales of 150,000 units in year 3.