Fashion and Beauty 28th May 2020 by Denise Curtin

Grace Collier Explains How She Adapted Her Vintage Business To Survive Covid-19

From flipping challenges to going digital, this is how she kept SPICE Vintage alive.

 

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On 15th March, I closed the doors to my little shop on Harvey’s Quay in Limerick. I remember feeling a quiet sense of calm as I locked up and drove away into uncertainty.

Since its inception in 2017, SPICE has thrived due to an insistent, almost stubborn, mindset of gratitude and acceptance. I’ve never been one to think negatively, and I just knew this situation would provide space for new thinking and exciting change. I knew intuitively that all would be well. However, a thriving business needs a little more than positive intuition. I needed to make a plan.

I saw three challenges that needed flipping. The first challenge was stock. I exclusively handpick all the items that SPICE sells. With social isolation and major travel restrictions, I was left potentially stockless. It wouldn’t be much of a clothes shop without any clothes. The second challenge was content creation. Social media, and Instagram in particular, is integral to my business’ image. Previously, a significant amount of the content was based on the day to day activities of the now closed shop. I also regularly use Instagram’s story function as a selling platform. Bringing us to the third challenge. I knew that with the shop now closed there would be an big increase in the amount of custom via Instagram. My business needed to adapt to a solely digital selling model. And fast.

 

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In the Vintage industry, there are two ways to source stock. The first, and most common way, is to contact a supplier and order from a stock sheet. The supplier then packages up what they have and charges by weight. I’ve never done this with SPICE. I love finding vintage gems, the reason I got into this strange business in the first place; I need to know that everything I’m selling is fire (technical term.) I have suppliers in a few different countries and every few weeks I travel to handpick each and every garment that goes into the shop. Clearly, this takes time. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. So you can imagine that this particular challenge commanded a great deal of my attention.

During this pandemic, we’ve all learnt to be more resourceful. Another thing we’ve learnt, is Zoom. I reached out to one of my main suppliers and requested that we try to fulfill all my stock requirements over video chat. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta ask.

Thankfully, he agreed. And since, every garment is carefully displayed in front of the camera as I request close ups, from the back looks and detailed fabric discussions. The first time we operated in this way, it took six hours. True, nothing can beat touching of fabric and seeing the pattern up close but I’m really coming round to employing this new, virtual process on a more regular basis.

 

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I think businesses everywhere are now realising just how much we can utilise the internet age. The benefit to productivity, cost control and work flexibility post pandemic will surely be enormous. Working from home really isn’t that bad is it? Meetings have been more time efficient and flexible, owing to online platforms such as Zoom and cloud-based sharing networks. Not to mention the fact that, with the grounding of flights and the clearing of roads, we’re finally giving the earth a chance to breath. Research carried out by nature.com has confirmed that CO2 emissions in individual countries have decreased by 26% on average. And there is already evidence of a strong commitment from the EU to instigate a ‘green transition’ when lockdowns are eased and economies recover. The world has been forced to think about the way in which we’ve been operating; this crisis has given us the opportunity for experimentation and new thinking. We might just become more a sustainable, resourceful and productive global community as a result.

With populations indoors and in need of easy entertainment, social media usage was always going to increase. I try to be as attentive as possible to my wonderful followers and so the Instagram aesthetic is very important for brand representation, as well as giving me a space to personally engage with many customers at once.

In a pre-Covid world, my shop was my Insta muse because, that’s where I was while posting. Now, I’m at home, and so, the way I create content has shifted too.

 

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I’ve been focusing more on lifestyle. What makes me tick and what keeps me happy. I’ve also been much more willing to open up. Of course, I’ve lost the daily human interaction that makes running a shop so much fun. So, I’ve started doing Q&A sessions every Friday. These sessions help me to interact with customers and provide a source of valued feedback that’s needed to help my business grow. Maybe it takes a bit of social separation to bring people closer together.

As well as moving all interaction online, we’ve also transformed our shopping habits. The high street is out of bounds and retailers are still adapting to the swathes of new online orders. SPICE is no exception. I tried to prepare for a lot more attention on the Instagram story stock drop.

When I first opened SPICE, I was keen to share my vision for the most extravagantly spicy items. I started to style outfits and upload them onto my Instagram story. All of a sudden, people started asking to buy the full outfits that I was styling. And the story selling method evolved from there. Every Friday at 6pm, a whole outfit or single item is styled and uploaded onto the story along with the price and size. Customers can then reply to the respective images to purchase. It’s madness! With just me behind the screen, I often have hundreds of live DMs at any one time.

 

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The first Instagram story stock drop of the lockdown was busier than ever. I had tried to plan for the projected influx by preparing answers that I could copy and paste and keeping items close by to address specific questions but, it proved a bit too much. I was rushed off my feet (well, thumbs) and I knew that something had to change.  When I was contacted by disappointed and deflated customers who I hadn’t managed to reply to in time. I decided it was time to get a website.

I launched my website earlier this month and so far, the response has been phenomenal. The first drop sold out in twenty-eight minutes. It was all so overwhelming to be honest.

The website has elevated my business into a whole new realm of possibility. Clearly there is demand. The next challenge is how I can rise to meet this demand. A new challenge, a new opportunity.

It’s not often that you’re able to step back and view the world in wide shot. I had to think about what SPICE could do for now, but I also had the time and space to think about what I could do better in general. The gift of pause allowed me to implement more efficient stock sourcing, experiment with more genuine social content and build a fairer buying process for my customers.

 

 

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I always knew that I had a special customer base but I’ve never been as sure of the importance of our community. There has been much discussion about loneliness during this lockdown. Of course, we’re missing each other still. But there are supportive and loving communities out there if you look. Social media cannot (and should not) replace human contact forever but they can at least be opportunities for starting the conversation.

The only way to effectively respond to a collective crisis is by working together. Let’s see our challenges as opportunities. Is this working? Can I do more here? Can I make this better? Let’s support small business and get the nation back on track.

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