We spend 5 minutes with Lana Coppel, founder of pioneering eCommerce fashion store, Order of Style
SDT: You founded Order of Style in 2015, when e-commerce was a relatively new concept.
How were you so ahead of your time?!
LANA: I always wanted to own a fashion boutique - it had been a dream of mine since childhood - I love clothing, I love styling and I love merchandising!
However I was also painfully shy! I could never fathom how I would spend my days serving customers and communicating with people when I could barely pick up the phone and call a school friend let alone converse with a complete stranger.
As a uni student I spent a lot of time selling my used clothes on eBay, and then I got really into it when I started working for a well known Australian Designer who had a massive cult following. This amazing platform - an ecommerce platform- allowed me to communicate and interact socially on a whole new level. So when I decided to start Order Of Style - it was a natural decision for me to go directly online.
SDT: What were the challenges of starting an e-commerce brand?
LANA: Using an established platform like eBay or Amazon allows you to piggyback off existing users. When you start a new eCommerce brand you literally have to start from the ground up - you need to build a solid presence online and etch out a place in a very busy and fast paced market. Getting people to know you, trust you and then to spend their money with you - that was definitely the hardest challenge.
SDT: What marketing strategies did you employ?
LANA: Search Engine Marketing and optimising SEO on the website are the strongest areas for enhancing your online performance. Once you get customers flowing to your website and signing up to your database you have a wonderful channel of connection to your customers and then it's all about enhancing their experience through creative content marketing and direct consumer marketing through your social and EDM channels.
SDT: eCommerce is now a saturated market, what would your advice be for women wanting to start a brand now?
LANA: I always say research and talk to as many people as possible - knowledge about your market is a key driver to success. Don't be scared to try it - there are so many quick, free or very cheap ecommerce platforms that you can take advantage of now with lot's of built in capabilities that can get your business up and running quickly.
SDT: What are your future hopes and dreams for Order of Style?
LANA: I really wanted to offer Australians a home grown shopping experience and now it’s more important than ever to support Australian owned businesses! I hope that I can continue to grow Order Of Style into a place that makes my customers feel good about their fashion choices by continuing to support sustainability within the fashion industry and continuing our environmental projects (we plant a tree for every order) all while dressed fabulously.
