Verge edges into online fashion space

Education. Engagement. Experience. These are all elements crucial to Verge’s jump into the online space; a leap that started with a design vision and ended with a future-proofed online presence.

Future-proofing. If there’s one phrase to sum up Verge’s online goal, that would be it.

While it may seem that Verge went from one day having little web presence—to suddenly having a website and content management system with unlimited potential—that is far from the case, as James Gilbert, Creative Director for Solutionists explains:

“Verge has a vision that goes beyond the everyday; a focus on creating an online presence that can showcase their designs today, but also be adapted tomorrow to fit with consumer demand for information and online interaction.

“Verge wanted a site that was scalable; an online model that would require little additional investment once their business—and customers—were ready to interact online.”

A well-established and recognised women’s clothing brand in New Zealand and Australia, Verge demanded a sophisticated online presence; a fully-integrated website that includes product information, guided navigation structure, user-friendly interface design, and features that allowed website users to view intricate fabric and fashion detail.

“They wanted the site to deliver a powerful online brand experience, to create fresh excitement around their fashion collections with the latest seasonal products, competitions, and interaction wherever possible,” adds Gilbert.

Solutionists’ response to this brief was extensive. Putting together a solution that included artwork, interface design and a content management system, Verge was presented with a website specification that ticked all the boxes.

A product showcase. Image hot spotting. Enlarged product viewing. These three user-friendly features were combined with a local stockist finder, ‘email a friend’ function, email newsletter module, web hosting, SEO and web performance monitoring.

The result was just what Verge had hoped for, as Adi Warren, Operations Manager at Verge, explains.

“Solutionists weren’t fazed by what we had asked for,” says Adi. “The team were really committed and very supportive. They are specialists in developing online fashion stores, so that was a key reason to trust what they could do for us.”  

“Verge’s key objective is to drive customers to our stockists, and to support retailers by showcasing our collections online,” Adi explains.  

As well as email newsletters, which have worked extremely well for Verge recently, this New Zealand fashion house will promote the website by leveraging its current database, using web-supported print advertising, implementing an Search Engine Optimisation strategy, and exploring Adwords and Social Media through Auckland-based consultancy: this side up web and print media.  

“The website is a useful tool as more and more people are using the internet to research products.  By displaying our directional fashion on the web in a way that shows women how to wear it, we hope to reach a wider market,” Adi concludes.  

To see the new Verge site for yourself, visit: www.Verge.co.nz.