Regatta Group: Realising the ecommerce opportunity

In 2016, Regatta group completed a review of all its business processes to create an aligned sustainability strategy for the company, which included its sustainable to-do list known as ‘Project 5’. Most recently, its British outerwear brand, Craghoppers, was named Brand of the Year (over £30m) in the 2020 Drapers Sustainability Awards for its ‘well-rounded approach to sustainability’.

With the changes in consumer behaviour that COVID-19 has presented, and the increase in ecommerce demand, the Regatta Group is realising the opportunity to engage with current and new customers and look at how smart packaging can enhance the customer experience, as well as create efficiencies for the ecommerce supply chain.

Melissa Lloyd, Head of Buying at Dare2b, explains: “The business felt initial contractions in April across its portfolio of brands following the closure of bricks and mortar stores. However, the rise in ecommerce traffic that followed across the group has already exceeded the forecasts.

“As well as current and brand-loyal customers, we’ve seen a considerable increase in new customers across the group, coming from the increase in those seeking outdoor exercise and taking up new hobbies, as well as the rise in UK staycation holidays.”

Gill Russell, PR Manager for Craghoppers, added: “For Craghoppers specifically, we’ve refocused our messaging around getting outside whilst staying local, aligning with partners such as English Heritage and Ordnance Survey to bring this to life.

“Craghoppers doesn’t have as many bricks and mortar stores as the other brands within the group. Therefore, as stores have started to reopen, ecommerce remains an essential channel to rebalance and grow revenue.”

Throughout COVID-19, Regatta Group has continued to implement its sustainability strategy across the business.

Melissa continued: “We’ve been keen not to stall on the implementation of key steps within our sustainability strategy as it’s such a huge part of our brand DNA, such as increasing recycled content within our packaging products.

“We have already reviewed our supply chain to ensure it’s ethical. Where we’ve had to make changes to some ranges to manage stock availability, and we’ve worked closely with suppliers to make sure materials can be used elsewhere to avoid waste.”

With the uptick in ecommerce, the Regatta Group is now looking at how it can continue to modify its packaging products to enhance the overall customer experience.

Melissa explained: “COVID-19 has presented an opportunity to engage with new ecommerce customers and convert them to repeat purchasers and brand followers as they learn more about our sustainable approach.

“One of the ways we can do this is by utilising packaging technology to communicate with customers and educate them on initiatives such as Craghoppers’ ‘Mindfully Made’ campaign, for example. Exploring smart packaging solutions would also allow us to improve operations in our warehouses, create efficiencies and streamline processes that will deliver a better experience for our ecommerce customers.

“To support the development of our packaging strategies we’ll continue to monitor the upcoming seasons closely to ensure we have the capabilities to adapt to changes to sales activity, and to respond with agility. This will then help us to ensure new packaging products are fit for purpose, with sustainability at their core,” Melissa concluded.

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