April 03 2008

comment - Banana Republic dot Ewww

The opening of the Banana Republic first store in the UK has been eagerly anticipated for years, but where's the website, and why can't I buy anything online? Marcus Austin argues that this is the best example of a botched launch he's seen in years.

Banana Republic's stores have always been my first destination when I visited the states, so I was happy to see that they were to open a “flagship” store in the UK, but boy was I let down. I know a few retailers have been wary of Banana Republic's entry into the UK market but after looking around the store and my failed attempts to buy online they shouldn’t have worried. The Nanas have managed to screw up their biggest – and only - launch in Eur-ooope – in quite a big way.

First the store

The new Regent Street shop was crowded on the opening day, which is always a good sign, but while footfall was good, the till didn't seem to be overly busy, and after ten minutes of ticket-checking I could see why. BR is good on classics, at good prices in the US, but in bringing the label to the UK they seem to have added a little bit on to their prices.

Now the website?

Then there's the website, or rather there isn't a website. While wandering around the store I'd been keeping my eye out for references to the website but there weren't any at all, apart from a few of the labels had “buy different sizes at www.bananarepublic.com” in very small type. Surely they couldn't have forgotten the website? Surely a brand as big as the big yellow has a multi-channel approach? So I moved the search online.

Following the labels suggestion I typed in Bananarepublic.com. Unfortunately this takes you directly to the US store, which has prices in dollars and there are no obvious links to stores around the World. If you type in Bananarepublic.co.uk the browse goes blank and then forwards you to Bananarepublic.eu, or Ewwww as we say over on this side of the pond.

When you do finally reach the website, can you actually buy online? The answer is NO. The website is basically an ad page for the store – and a Google killing Adobe Flash one at that - it tells you the store has opened, bringing BR to “this side of the pond” and gives you the opportunity to add your email for information at a later date.

Interestingly, if you search on Google for BR there's a PPC link to the .eu site but as you can’t then buy anything it seems like an expensive waste of money?

As only a very small fraction of the US holidaying Nana buying brits live on Regents Street, you would have thought that a website that used all the immense pre-launch publicity would be a great idea. Well it isn't to the Nanas.

This is a classic case of a retailer just not understanding their market or the net. The BR .com site has been actively discouraging overseas buyers for at least three years with a message in the shipping section that says “At this time, we are unable to accept or ship international orders”, which is great considering their US stores are always full of Brits like me. So the price tickets in the flagship shop that push you the .com site are really going to help the customers get an appreciation of the “brand.”

Plus in the years it's taken for the Gap group's “big yellow business” to get around to opening their upmarket brand in the UK, the market has moved on. Fast and smart retailers like Zara – my new preferred shopping home - and H&M have come in and cleaned up the BR market on the high street, while hundreds of websites have cleared up on the net. So for BR not to have a fully functioning website on day one, or day 14, or any sort of multichannel push is just a crime against retail. Although to be fair both H&M and Zara are also not the best examples of net retailing, or multichannel.

In the interests of fairness I re-visted the Nanas shop today, just to see if the initial multi-channel problems were teething problems, but no. The place was emptier – very empty – and it still seemed to stock the dull US ranges. If you like chinos designed for the larger man and t-shirts with New York on them, then you'll love their styles. It's useful to note that the shop shares the block with H&M and AX. So we went into H&M to compare and while I spent £0 in Gaps big bro' I did spend £180 in H&M, on some nice, skinny, trendy stuff that will probably last the season but at least I won't look like Bill Gates.

by Marcus Austin (Web Editor)