Listen to an in-depth interview with Stephanie Sobel, president of OneStopPlus.com. See the RetailWire Podcast below...
Success in retail comes down to understanding your consumer. That has been central to the mission of OneStopPlus.com, a division of Redcats US, which bills itself as the the world's first and largest website for plus-sized consumers.
Stephanie
Sobel, president of OneStopPlus.com, said the partnered website was launched
following surveys that showed plus-sized consumers were looking to find the
products they wanted in one location.
"It's been challenging in many stores to find a great selection of plus-sized apparel in her size," Ms. Sobel told RetailWire.
The website, according to Ms. Sobel, continually looks for new designers to add to the site and meet the needs of its shoppers.
"We have new brands joining us all the time, and the idea is we have over 7.5 million plus sized customers who are visiting our site, over a million every month," Ms. Sobel said. "Our goal again is to show our customers that we have the widest possible range of selection."
OneStopPlus is looking to raise its profile in public events such as New York's Fashion Week.
"We needed to have a presence during Fashion Week to demonstrate to the plus-sized consumer that she's included in this fashion world and needs to have a fantastic selection just like every other customer," said Ms. Sobel.
OneStopPlus also went out and hired plus-sized super model Emme to serve as a brand ambassador.
Ultimately, Ms. Sobel said, the core of OneStopPlus is taking care of the customer. A case in point is the over one million product reviews on the site.
"Where she sees us fall short, we will go ahead and correct it," said Ms. Sobel. "Most of our products are (made) exclusively for us, so we're able to immediately react to what the customer is saying."
Reviews on the site led OneStopPlus to expand its pants selections to include more petites and talls. Ms. Sobel said this is "the year of the pants" for the site, which added "a variety of fits so the customer can find precisely what she's looking for as well as fit guides to help her to shop more easily and feel very reassured that when she receives the product it's going to make her feel and look great."
Discussion Questions: Is one stop shopping any more or less important in e-tail as it is in brick and mortar retail? Are other e-tailers benefiting from customer reviews to tailor product selection along the lines of OneStopPlus.com?