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Going native

Elliot and Kate Alexander

[Retail therapy]

New Zealand is full of great designers. But Kate and Elliot Alexander were astonished to find how many good Kiwi designers there were operating under the public’s radar. Online store Endemicworld.com is their answer.

“We’re not just a store for suppliers,” says Kate Alexander. “We are a facilitator for them, guiding them in the right direction, so it’s all done in collaboration.  We involved the designers in the design process of the website, so they could see the quality of the design we were doing.”

“We try to make a noise about the designers, to position them alongside the more well-known [designer] brands,” adds Elliot. “Everyone was interested.”

Endemicworld.com went live in December 2007. Already, 70 percent of visitors come from offshore. Fast is important: with in-house production, Endemicworld.com can have a designer’s products online and selling within days.

“We focus on products that have had that extra bit of effort put in, with unique stories,” says Elliot Alexander. ”New Zealanders are used to bargains when shopping online, but we want to sell larger and more investment items [and switch people] from bricks and mortar to buying online. It’s awesome to get brands going.”

Comments

Nigel

September 30, 2008 at 3:41 pm

There is a similar site at www.cleverbastards.co.nz featuring kiwi designers.

Matt Cooney

September 30, 2008 at 4:02 pm

True enough ... and we'll have more on them in the next issue.

Paul Kayser

September 30, 2008 at 4:05 pm

Nice one Elliot and Kate. Good to see more good Kiwi design online. Cheers, Paul [@cleverbastards.co.nz]

Kate Alexander

October 1, 2008 at 9:43 am

Thanks Paul. Look forward to reading more about you guys in the next issue of Idealog. And thanks Idealog for being so receptive to stories about fledgling NZ businesses. The latest update to the endemicworld.com story is Kinoo - our own product brand which launches to the general retail market this weekend - you can see the Kinoo products here: http://www.kinoo.co.nz

Anne

October 2, 2008 at 8:54 am

Great site! So far, I have not really been an online shopper but here I just can't resist. My family overseas is already equipped with the Kinoo Kiwi T-shirt and they love it!

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