In talks with Glam-net founder

FashionUnited caught up with Joanna Nye, founder of Glam-net, an online fashion boutique, for the past two years, whom are now looking to encourage physical boutique's in the UK to sell their products on our site as a promotional and selling

platform - a first in merging on and offline offerings.
 
Glam-net

was set up to bridge the gap between high street and premium priced clothing, why do you see this as such an important market and how have you kept yourself niche in the sudden ecommerce saturation?
This gap in the market in the UK between high street fashion and premium priced clothing, has I feel been filled by physical Boutiques, whose offer has traditionally been niche in terms of providing a wider choice of unique fashion forward pieces that are well made and great customer service. I feel that this is an important market, as there are customers who are searching for something unique and exclusive to them for an occasion or for everyday wear. Online shoppers in the UK spent £5.4 billion in February 2012 and growth in U.S.and online spend is set to increase 62% by 2016. However, we try to stay true to our ethos which is to offer our customers good quality, well priced fashion items with great customer service. We also have a lifestyle blog, glamyou.co.uk that gives trends advice as well interesting pieces about travel, entertainment and of course fashion.
 
Why did you decide the time was right to coordinate with selected UK high street boutiques? Can you tell me some of the people you are working with?
We feel it is the right time now to approach other UK boutiques and niche brands. There are very few publishers or shopping portals that are championing the boutique offer. We also understand that it is difficult for a Boutique to manage both a physical shop and online presence. With our experience in the online sector we can take care of this for a Boutique owner. We currently have two boutiques in Kent, 3 in surrey, 1 in Notting Hill and ten more potential boutiques in Northern England aswell as inviting a few brands online through a commission basis.
 
As a first, bringing together physical stores and online retailing, what results are you aiming to achieve within a year?
We are hoping that by bringing together the physical and online boutiques, some of which already have both, we want to make glam-net ‘a go to’ for female consumers, where they can find something unique and beautiful for their need and experience great customer experience, where one of the glam-net team are available at the end of an email or phone.
 
Don't you feel that by bringing together diverse markets, you are confusing your presence?
I don’t feel that we are confusing our presence, as like many of the major online stores like Amazon, who sell not only their own products, but also other companies’ products, we are doing the same only we are niche and only offer ‘Boutique’ designer clothing and accessories providing our customer with a wider choice of unique and desirable items.
 
How are you looking to take this cooperation between on and offline boutiques forward into the future?
We are hoping to continue to grow this cooperation between ourselves and the physical boutiques by making improvements to our website, promotion and marketing the offer to boutiques and positioning glam-net as the Champion for boutiques and our customers.