I truly believe that Brand is the answer to what sets most successful ecommerce companies apart from the ones who are starting to falter– not cheap pricing and not celebrity endorsements. Brand.
When I started Fashpa, I wanted to disrupt the industry, mostly because I didn’t feel connected to a lot of “fashion” or ecommerce brands, they were either too high fashion or me or just so far disconnected that I didn’t want to shop there. There were no brands that evoked passion or that people were really proud to be associated with, so we set about to change that. ( more on that journey later)
To succeed at that you must truly know your customer, be laser focused on always giving them what they want, when they want it, before they even know they want it. You must be able to step into their shoes at anytime and know exactly where the shoe hurts.
I frequently meet Fashpa customers and am quite retiring and self deprecating so I tend to quietly whisper I work at Fashpa.com if we get to that part of the conversation where you are asked what you do. Most times that not, ll get someone who probes further and then ll answer , oh I am the CEO/ the founder and I typically get a hug and an accompanying big smile as they fire 1o questions about what why are you guys doing this and why dont you have this?, usually in naija style rapid fire style.
The reason they hug me, is because the brand Fashpa resonates with them. They feel connected.
But great brands take time to build, you need to be focused, consistent and stay true to the brand. In many ways in 2-0-1-5 we didn’t always stay true to the brand, but am changing that this year. A renewed focus on brand is already helping us make some tough calls too. I am super excited about 2016 already, can you tell?
What is your brand and what does it start for?
Honey ogundeyi 
Absolutely! I think it’s important that we start building strong brands in retail. Globally, when you think of certain products certain brands come to mind, like Burberry and tthe Trench coats. We do not have so many brands that you can truly tell what their unique DNA is, But hopefully that would begin to change as entrepreneurship begin to take root and we begin to create businesses that would go global and stand the test of time.
Thank you Ngozi, I agree with you a 100%.