House of Fraser Launches Redesigned Website in Strategic Push for Brand Offering

LONDON, July 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

House of Fraser, the UK and Ireland's premium department store, is today launching a redesigned transactional website, as the company becomes one of the largest online department stores in the UK, offering over 1,000 brands online, including clothes from the House of Fraser brand range, such as House of Fraser dresses.

The key focus on the new 'premium look and feel' site, will be to take customers through an exciting online brand journey, therefore in contrast to the typical 'shopping by department', customers will be able to shop by brand, with micro-site hub pages for the brands on offer. They'll be able access top men's designer clothing or vintage dresses belonging to their favourite brands just by navigating the section dedicated to those brands. Monthly customer focus groups and research carried out by House of Fraser has shown that shoppers are very focused on shopping by brand and are keen to have a simplified checkout system. They also wanted the site to provide more product information and allow them to filter by product attributes.

Since the launch of the transactional website in 2007, and subsequent initiatives, House of Fraser's multi-channel offer has moved from strength to strength, a trend which continues into 2011 as online sales are experiencing triple digit growth. For the first 24 weeks of the new financial year, online sales were up 111%, taking the web-store to the top selling store for the Group.  

To continue driving this success, House of Fraser believes in the importance of constantly looking at ways to develop its multi-channel offer and, based on feedback from focus groups and customer research, work has now been completed to improve customers' online shopping experience through the new fully redesigned website.

The research also showed that customers want advice from fashion experts on new trends and styles, from how to combine a designer dress with shoes from House of Fraser, to advice on what they should be spending their money on next season. House of Fraser equally recognises the importance of social media development for retailers and is introducing a strategy to drive sales through this channel. As part of the redesigned website launch, the business will also introduce a web-based inspirational 'style' magazine, which will link to networking social media sites, blogs and wider international web fashion discussion.

Search marketing agency, Greenlight, and social media agency, We Are Social, were both taken on in June to work alongside House of Fraser's in-house multi-channel team.  

Robin Terrell, Executive Director for Multi-Channel and International at House of Fraser, commented:

"Our transactional website has been an integral factor in the success of House of Fraser over recent years. Multi-channel retailing is a fast moving area and we are always looking at ways to stay at the top of our game. We are confident our current customers will be delighted by the new look and feel of our website, and that the launch of our customer interaction with social media strategy will introduce House of Fraser to new UK and international customers. We are very excited about these new initiatives, which we believe will continue to drive growth this year."

Notes to Editors  

About House of Fraser:

House of Fraser is a department store group with 61 enviable locations across the UK and Ireland.  As one of the best known names on the high street, House of Fraser has presented customers with an unrivalled nationwide department store for 160 years. The company was acquired by the Highland consortium in November 2006 marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter in its history.  The group has annual sales in excess of £1.25bn and employs 6,500 House of Fraser staff and 10,000 concession staff through 5 million sq ft of selling space. Customers can shop at House of Fraser from http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk

Contact:

Melissa Read, Associate, Mobile: +44(0)7979-756-573, mread@kreabgavinanderson.com