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clothing item . We aren ’ t just an accessories brand , we are an accessories and luxurious apparel brand .
We ’ re talking about our next steps of international growth , we ’ ve moved with such great success so quickly , we ’ re now over to the next 12 months , ready to take that next step .
Looking back at Covid-19 , one of the areas we were able to action quickly was international wholesaling . When Oroton came out of VA , there was the dream of being a relevant international brand and here we are now , with a range of orders from places like Selfridges , Bloomingdales , Bon Marche and we ’ re on Net-a-Porter . That international demand is there , which excites us , in addition to the growth we ’ ve achieved locally during Covid-19 .
In Asia , we ’ ve got two stores in Malaysia , both very successful and just before Covid-19 hit , I had a trip booked to go to Southeast Asia to look at that area from a growth perspective . Because of Covid-19 , that ’ s been put on hold and now we ’ ve moved to an aggressive online international growth .
IR : Can you tell me more about the pivot towards international for Oroton ? DK : We all got dizzy from the number of pivots that took place when our stores closed . We engaged with quite a few daigous [ Chinese resellers ] here and we tested Oroton on WeChat , targeting Chinese customers in Australia — there are 2.1 million people who could be potential customers . We ’ ve had private sessions with them in-store , where they walk around our stores and [ film themselves ], sending their followers to our brand . Throughout that process , we ’ ve increased brand awareness and got a new customer with some success . Lots of tests took place . We had a board meeting where we said we ’ d try eight things and two would stick . So rather than being in our PJs at home last year , we went out and did testing . We had some great results from the WeChat and daigou channels .
Daigous came out of the woodwork last year , but they were recently in our Chadstone store , where they did a livestream for four hours of the whole product range . We got some significant sales out of that , both here and internationally . It ’ s an area of great opportunity as part of that overarching international awareness piece .
I see it as being something that we have to explore more and deploy because of the number of followers that daigous carry . Everyone knows Oroton in Australia , but we want to be a brand that everyone in the world knows .
IR : It doesn ’ t always work for brands when they go overseas . Where do those challenges lie ? DK : There are a range of areas . For the small designer brands , it ’ s difficult because of the set-up costs to venture overseas and the marketing of the brand . If you ’ re an unknown brand internationally , you have to be relevant to a lot of people . You have to get the right trade partners , you have to get the pricing right , you have to understand international cultures in different regions , you ' ve got to understand
different tax laws , returns , distribution chains and so forth . There ’ s a lot to think about . There ’ s a lovely theory of ‘ let ’ s go overseas and all will be well ’, but there are so many elements to consider .
For the smaller guys , it ’ s difficult because the costs are huge , so unless you ' ve got really good sources and cash management capability and an individual unique proposition , businesses are going to struggle . It ’ s something that needs a laser-like focus to get right .
We ’ re looking now deeply at all those avenues internationally . During Covid-19 , we tested with wholesale , and we immediately got bites , so we ’ ve ended up on Net-a-Porter and now we ’ re in Selfridges and On Pedder in ►
16 | www . insideretail . com . au May 2021