Maidenform Finds 'Bricks and Clicks' Balance - online store is a success, supply chain runs smoothly - Brief Article

Bobbin, May, 2000 by Kathleen DesMarteau

Intimate apparel manufacturer Maidenform. Inc. has built an online business that complements the firm's distribution through department stores and company-owned outlet stores.

Maidenform revamped its Web site -- www.maidenform.com -- last year with a goal of offering consumers a better online shopping experience, complete with personalized suggestions for finding the right lingerie to suit their individual body sizes, lifestyles and style preferences. The Internet technology firm Proxicom worked with Maidenform to develop the "e-store," which is part of an online shopping mall.

The results of its new e-store have been positive on all fronts, according to Cindy Davis, Maidenform senior vice president of retail. In an interview with Bobbin in February, Davis said Maidenform Online had received approximately 75,000 visitors since its launch in mid-November 1999, with a 3.3 percent "conversion rate to purchases," or conversion of shoppers to buyers.

While Maidenform would not reveal a dollar figure for its online sales, Davis said the sales are approximately equal to those of one of Maidenform's outlet stores. A privately held company, Maidenform does not publicly release financial performance data.

Maidenform has not had channel conflict complaints from its large department store customer base, Davis said. The stores had some concerns initially, and asked a lot of questions, she said, but now seem to realize that Maidenform Online is as much about promoting the Maidenform image as it is about selling products.

In fact, Maidenform's corporate strategy with regard to e-commerce is focused on a "synergistic relationship" between its wholesale, outlet and Internet sales venues, Davis emphasized. The goal is to send business back and forth between the three channels, depending on the consumer's needs.

For instance, Maidenform Online has a retail locator function to guide consumers to the closest department or outlet stores that carry Maidenform apparel. By the same token, signage and product identification in many stores direct consumers to the Web site for product and fit information, including Maidenform's popular "What to Wear Under What You're Wearing" feature, an interactive section of the site.

As Davis summed up the firm's retail approach: "We believe our customer is shopping in all three places [department stores, outlets and the Internet]. As a brand, we want to be where our customer is."