bibaloo.com adapts to hard times

Whilst the financial turmoil is having its impact on consumers' buying behaviour, online children’s boutique bibaloo.com has seen a traffic increase. Laurence Beauregard, founder and manager of the French fashion site, unveiled that the UK consumers are increasingly

turning to the Internet to find the best deal, to avoid using their cars to shop in the high street, or just to better stay in control of their spending. They seem to take more time before buying, and would return on the website several times before eventually making a purchase. It seems customers are trying to find the best value for their money. Normally bibaloo.com’s traffic increases by 5 to 10% every month. In September the Unique Visitors traffic increased by +25% and the October trend is +35%. Similarly the average number of pages per visitor has increased by 20%.

For next season, Beauregard said: “At Bibaloo we are staying in line with our aggressive marketing and business plans, and still intend to do so in 2009. We plan to visit at least two out of the three main children fashion shows that we normally cover: Premier KIDS in Birmingham, Pitti Bambino in Florence and Playtime in Paris. However, we will probably buy ‘differently’ there from what was originally anticipated. “ With differently, Beauregard means that they’ve noticed customers change their buying pattern after having spent a long time comparing the offers of other websites.

Customers either buy several items when it's a good deal or would buy fewer items, but of the highest quality because they need it. To spend more money for a good quality jacket is currently more the major purchase motive, then impulsive purchases.

The high quality childrenswear market won’t suffer too much, Beauregard expects. “Parents are very reluctant to compromise on the quality for their children, and will rather make a sacrifice for themselves. Friends or family will continue to shop for high quality gifts for babies.“

Image: bibaloo.com