We caught up with British childrenswear retailer IndiaCoco, founded in May 2012 by former Marketing Director of Mamas & Papas Claire Harper, who opened its first bricks and mortar retail outlet in Wood Street, Wakefield, October 2013 introducing the very best of British designer childrenswear brands to the Yorkshire high street.
We managed to find some time with Claire to ask her about her business and also to understand how the High Street is one of the best vehicles for brand awareness.
When did you start your business?
IndiaCoco was launched from the dining room in May 2012. A small baby and gifting concession followed and was launched at award winning Blacker Hall Farm, 2012 followed by our first store in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, October 2013.
Why did you decide to put your IndiaCoco in your current location?
From Clicks to Bricks
Online British Childrenswear RetaiIer IndiaCoco opened its first Yorkshire store leading the way in championing British style for kids.
IndiaCoco first tested the market with a pop up shop in Wood Street Market, Wakefield. A thriving, monthly community-led event which takes place in the summer and brings a once busy high street to life, reinvigorating it with street entertainment and inspirational pop up shops such as IndiaCoco.
Our childrenswear brand continues to grow and following the success of recent Wood Street Market, we are delighted to have opened our first store at 11, Wood Street, Wakefield. WF1 2EL. We have initially negotiated a flexible lease and whilst we are trading well at Wood Street we will also be focusing on expanding other areas of the business too, including the online offering, our baby and gifting presence at award winning, Blacker Hall Farm and expanding our retail landscape.
it is better to crawl, and then walk, and then run
What have been the biggest challenges over the last 5 years for you?
The understanding that it takes a long time to build a strong brand. It is incredibly tempting to accept every opportunity, even if you’re not ready. I take the view now it is better to crawl, and then walk, and then run. Keep focused and keep it simple. The other challenge I have learnt is to not be afraid of failure. If you are really entrepreneurial and have the passion and self-belief to go forward, a few failures don’t count.
What is the best thing about being on the High Street?
We are committed to our promise of sourcing and selling original, handpicked British childrenswear brands, which offer the very best in quality and value, and meet our customers’ requirements. A retail shop really gives us the opportunity to continue to deliver outstanding customer service face to face and to demonstrate the warmth, passion and commitment that shines through in everything we do.
Gone are the days where customers will just walk through your doors and buy.
Have you seen much change and churn in shops as reported in the media?
Change is constant on the high street; we believe having a strong retail presence for our brand is very important. You must have strong brand values and really be prepared to go the extra mile at all times. Gone are the days where customers will just walk through your doors and buy. You have work on building that relationship and you need to be better than the people you are competing with. With our business a strong retail presence allows customers to get up, close and personal to our products and having that conversation is a powerful way of understanding your customers on the shop floor.
What is your best and most popular product?
Listening to the customer is at the heart of our brand so IndiaCoco is home to great value, quality children’s clothes made by the very best British designers, and hand-picked by us.
We are passionate about brands that offer original style in practical, wearable and fun designs, offering our busy customers a world of wardrobe inspiration for babies, boys and girls aged 0-8. What’s more important for us is style, quality and value for money – overpriced designer childrenswear is not for us.
Describe your average day.
I’m not sure if there is a typical day when you are a busy working mum. I have two lovely little girls; Coco (6) and India (2) so the day starts nosily, bright and early at 6.30am and then it’s all go getting them ready for school and nursery. Running a multi channel retail operation is a 24/7 operation but the first priority of the day is making sure the girls are on track to leave the house on time.
I enjoy working for myself as it means I can do the school and nursery runs and It’s then back to work and I spend the next eight hours juggling a multi channel business so whether I’m managing our concession at award winning Blacker Hall Farm, getting orders out from the online business, meeting suppliers, customers, reviewing store performance or planning the next shop opening it’s all go. Once the girls are back from school and nursery I try and switch off and get back into mummy mode, although I can’t resist checking my emails and orders. I am normally enjoying a large glass of wine and back on my laptop for the evening shift at around 8pm when the girls are tucked up and fast asleep.
How would you greet a WATC Member if they entered your shop? What is the experience you give your customers whilst visiting your shop?
This is simple – when you shop with us, you’ll experience a super-easy and fast website, beautiful packaging, inspirational store environments and friendly, uncompromising service.
Our values are clearly displayed via printed vinyls on our shop walls so we have to deliver above and beyond our values every day.
- Be uncompromising
- Be remarkable
- Be courageous
- Be original
- Be unbound
If you had the chance to do it all again what would you change?
Never look back – always look forward. Onwards and upwards!
There are some great deals out there and landlords do have to take a more flexible approach to attracting new brands than ever before.
How do you see the High street to be in the next 2-5 years?
For IndiaCoco the high street represents a huge opportunity for the growth of our brand. There are some great deals out there and landlords do have to take a more flexible approach to attracting new brands than ever before. We plan to roll out across the UK in community-based locations, as we are now a multi-channel retail proposition.
We are also underway with some exciting web developments around mobile applications, embracing new technology and making it even easier for customers to order with us across all world.
We are very excited to be growing a strong brand. Our customers will always come first and we will continue to work extremely hard to really go that extra mile. Nearly 23 months in in, our adventure is only just beginning and we are off to a great start – this is just the beginning for IndiaCoco – every day brings new reasons to feel inspired and excited about our future.
Success is about knowing your customer. Work out who your customer is and what they really want. It is a process that should be ongoing.
Do you use social media and online presence to promote your business?
IndiaCoco has also struck up strong working relationships with other like-minded British brands including UK Internet retailer Ocado and Neom Organics, luxury home fragrance and body care products. By teaming up with these brands, which are equally as passionate about their customer, we are able to offer IndiaCoco’s customers additional benefits and reach a wider target audience.
Social media and PR have been key channels for growing the IndiaCoco brand with strong relationships and coverage generated with UK and international bloggers and national print press.
Don’t forget to breathe. You have to have fun along the way. It’s incredibly exciting starting a business but you need some downtime too.
What advice would you give another female entrepreneur on starting up their own shop or business?
Success is about knowing your customer. Work out who your customer is and what they really want. It is a process that should be ongoing.
Stay focused – be clear about your vision and how you will deliver that to customers.
Focus on how you work with people – not just with customers but also suppliers as well. It is important to have great chemistry and a very good working relationship.
Starting a business is not for the fainthearted. Know from the start what you are getting into.
Don’t forget to breathe. You have to have fun along the way. It’s incredibly exciting starting a business but you need some downtime too.
How often do you change your stock or product range?
We launch new season collections for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter but I prefer not to be drawn into big seasonal launches and inject newness all year round.
You can find IndiaCoco here online or please visit their fantastic shop in Yorkshire. – 11, Wood Street, Wakefield. WF1 2EL
