Showpo pursues growth in US market

Heather McIlvaine

4th Sep 2017

Online women’s fashion company, Showpo, threw an official launch party in Los Angeles last week, taking the first step in its more ‘proactive’ approach to the US market.

Held at NeueHouse Hollywood, a Los Angeles hotspot with skyline views, the event was covered by US media outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter and People, thanks to an appearance by reality television star, Corinne Olympios, who starred in the Bachelor in Paradise earlier this year.

Showpo CEO Jane Lu (pictured above, third from left) has proven adept at leveraging social media to grow the fashion company over the years, and the US launch was no exception.

“We’re really lucky that we got her,” Lu told The Hollywood Reporter about having Olympios at the event. “Her team tells us that the brand aligns with her personal brand well.”

The launch party marks the new, more ‘proactive’ approach Showpo is taking in the US market, according to a conversation Lu had with Internet Retailing earlier this year.

“We’ve always been passively [selling in the US]. With social media, you can’t not do it. Even fashion in Los Angeles is very similar, all the social trends are very similar,” Lu said.

At the time, Lu said almost 50 per cent of sales were coming from outside Australia. Today, 20 per cent of sales come from the US market alone, according to Showpo’s head of content and PR, Kelly McCarren.

To increase that number, the company has retained a US-based PR team, secured a US warehouse and tasked a buyer to split her time between Sydney and Los Angeles.

“Our US buyer is actually buying stock straight from suppliers [in the US] and our product development is sent to the warehouse [in the US] or shipped from the Sydney one. Given we have free international shipping, waiting a few more days doesn’t seem to bother many people,” McCarren wrote in an email.

In terms of marketing, McCarren said Showpo is looking to ramp up its partnership with US celebrities and influencers on social media.

“We have a customer service team working an array of hours in both Sydney and Manila in order to give customer service 24-hours [a day],” she added.

In a previous conversation with Internet Retailing, Lu said Showpo is in a good position to stand out in the US market.

“Compared to a brand like Forever 21,  it’s the quality [that sets us apart]. For our demographic and price point, we’re in a good space. There’s a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ about us,” she said.