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Brooks England on How to Build a Successful Online Strategy for a Heritage Brand

February 22, 2023

How does a brand capitalise on its own heritage when it comes to the shiny new world of e-commerce? In this interview, Brooks England's own Digital Manager Oliver Parsons tells us how they do it.

What do you sell? What is unique about it?

At Brooks England we sell cycling products, the main one being leather bicycle saddles. However we also make bicycle bags, including rucksacks, shoulder bags, and panniers.

Our Leather Saddles have been in existence since before 1900, with some models made in the line today having been on sale for over 100 years. They are unique in comfort and functionality, and we believe they really are 'The Best for Riding'.

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Who is the typical customer and why do you think your product appeals to them?

For a business with a very specific product, we have a very broad range of customers. They range from the keen cyclist to the irregular commuter, and our bags even appeal to those who do not ride a bicycle.

The lasting appeal of Brooks is both our heritage and our continuing dedication to innovation, but also that our products continue to deliver on their function and ingenuity whilst providing the cyclist with a richer riding experience.

How was the business started?

The business started in 1866, the story is well known. The movement into cycling happened when our founder, John Boultbee Brooks, ended up borrowing a friend’s bicycle following the unfortunate death of his horse. He despaired at the wooden saddle and set out to invent something more comfortable, which led to the leather bicycle saddle.

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When a customer buys from you, how do you ensure they come back and shop again?

The quality of the product. Usually customers have tried many other saddles before coming to us, when they do get their first Brooks Saddle they are usually amazed by the improvement in comfort. This creates advocates who recommend our products to others and cyclists definitely take notice of recommendations from other cyclists. This also leads people to purchase our bags and other accessories.

How do you attract people to the website? This is something a lot of people struggle with, especially at the start. If you use social media, how do you do it and which channels do you use?

We use a blend of content and advertising. Predominantly we target our work to cycling communities. For instance our blog has writers who appeal directly to different types of cyclist. They will also promote the content they have made for us across their own channels, which has brought us new audiences.

We use social media, mainly pictures of beautiful bicycles and landscapes which leads cyclists to share with others. Our display advertising utilises leading cycling publications and some Adwords work.

What software are you using for and with your website?

Currently we are using a proprietary .net solution, and monitor our performance with Google Analytics. However, we have recently kicked off a rebuild which will see us using Magento. Using open source will allow us to get access to a greater range of functionalities that should help us really improve our site performance. In all honesty it is probably a little bit overdue but it is an exciting time for us.

What are the three most important elements of a good ecommerce website?

It has to be easy for the customer to navigate and find exactly what it is they want, whilst at the same time not removing the ability to browse and accidentally stumble over something that might be of interest to the customer.

There also needs to be an element of customer validation, people want to see products being used by others and want to see advocacy for products. This is important to help bring through the conversion/sale. This also acts as a helpful aid for visual merchandising.

Finally with a brand like Brooks we are able to have great content due to our pre-eminent position in cycling. Marrying this with the e-commerce is going to be essential in our new site.

How do you find areas of improvement for your website? What have you done wrong with your website in the past that you have learnt from?

Repeating what has been said above - we have probably waited a little bit too long to get the project to refresh the site underway. It has been a tough process to get the right agency selection due to various factors but now we are underway we have a lot we can improve.

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What’s the best thing about having a physical store? Would you recommend online only businesses try a pop up?

It allows customers to come and meet with the brand face to face. We find it invaluable for product feedback but also for customer insights. Also it can help nervous shoppers get a greater understanding of the product and have expert advice then and there, which is very hard online, even using services such as Olark. Although in future this online messaging will be more prevalent.

How do you attract footfall?

We are in Covent Garden which helps!

Do you integrate your online and offline stores in any way?

Not currently but click and collect is definitely something we are looking into.

The colour options for custom made saddles and a limited edition Paul Smith for Mercian track bike

What's the biggest lesson you've learnt along the way, that you would pass on to aspiring retailers?

You need to be authentic to you business, there is no cookie-cutter approach. What works for one brand might not work elsewhere. However if you approach your business in a transparent and honest way, with a strong focus on the customer, you will be able to find those things that are right for you.

Also reward those people who display loyalty to you, they will become your advocates and more and more they are the ones who will do your marketing for you, whether thats through social media or word of mouth. Consumers today are savvy and wise to the old tricks, so offer them the respect they deserve.

What resources can you recommend to help with running a business, such as books, blogs and podcasts?

We Make Websites do a pretty good job in providing great content for start ups.

Elsewhere Mc Kinsey and the like are always interesting reading and can offer great insights. Also CMO Today on WSJ is great!

The daily email from Nieman Lab always has something worth a read.

What’s the best thing about doing what you do?

The breadth of the role. Digital covers such a broad range of channels and opportunities that there is never a chance to get bored. Growing our audience and our sales is obviously very rewarding but it doesn't end there. At the moment I am focusing on getting some proper coding skills and that has been great, but I really love editing and curating our blog, it allows me to work with fantastic journalists and contributors writing about a topic that I am genuinely interested in.

Thank you Oliver for your insights! You can find out more about Brooks England at brooksengland.com

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