Rachel Li’s blog post caught my eye (Story of a Traveling Tailor: Indochino). Indochino is a Vancouver-based company, whose value proposition is to provide high quality, custom-made yet affordable apparel for men all over the world. What’s so special about this company is its business model
It is completely based online, so that people around the world can get access to it. Also, it’s affordable prices is made possible by cutting out the middlemen (i.e. layers of companies and people who purchase fabric, manage suppliers and sell their products in retail outlets). Indochino makes their services centered around customers, first by giving them the freedom of choice in the customization of their suits and then ensuring prompt delivery (within 3-4 weeks) to their doorstep, at any location around the world. In addition, Indochino provides after-sales services too. Customers are able to send their apparel for further alteration if they’re not satisfied with it and scan the receipt up to $75 back to Indochino and they will get a refund for their alteration work.
What further impressed me is that Indochino doesn’t have a physical storefront but it’s amazing how much of an online presence they’ve established for themselves in just 6-7 years since its inception. They have a strong presence on Facebook with about 125,000 likes on their page, frequently showcasing their latest promotions, often involving generous free gifts with every purchase like ties, collar pins etc. Their webpage is also tastefully designed and easy to navigate. They feature a myriad of shirt, suit, tie colors and design which is always appealing to variety-loving consumers. They have made their online store available on mobile devices too, matching up with the social trend of shopping on-the-go. Indochino has recently updated their mobile site to make it easier to navigate, change customizations, sizes etc, as well as put full orders through in a hassle-free manner. Finally, Indochino has pop-up stores that travel from city to city to further enhance the awareness of their brand and business model. They have traveled to New York, Portland, Seattle, Calgary, just to name a few.
I think what makes Indochino a company to look out for is not only its unique business model but more importantly, just like super successful brands like Apple and Google, they are customer-oriented. By offering multitudes of choices for customers in customization, design, colors, then making the transaction process efficient and hassle free and finally providing after-sales services too definitely bodes well with customers and customers see value in these services. Indochino’s CEO Kyle Vucko sums it up well. He knows that not having a physical retail store still puts them at a disadvantage and thus, he’s focusing more on “how [Indochino] create a more emotive connection with the brand”, emphasizing the consumer-centeredness and fostering a strong consumer-brand relationship. (-: