"The line’s creator must control the presentation
of her or his creative vision."
At ApparelLink we do not consider the web simply a graphic design or technology medium. We look at it as a medium for communication and empowerment. By integrating the web’s information delivery capability with traditional sales channels we gain the advantage of greatly extending a line’s visibility while increasing the quality of information presented to sales reps, customers and potential customers.
All too often the web is thought of as a contemporary version of the “Yellow Pages”. This view limits the potential advantage that the web actually provides. When used as an active information delivery and processing tool the web can greatly extend a business’ capabilities and reach.
ApparelLink has been creating dynamic, interactive, information driven web sites since 1995. We have kept pace with the evolving technology in order to realize our goal of creating a venue for every manufacturer, no matter the size, to reach the widest market possible.
We see a Virtual Showroom as a web-based application that allows a fashion creator to not only show a line as a series of images, but to also present the design philosophy behind the line i.e. why the choice of fabrications, the importance of the color selection, the pieces designed to go together, etc. Beyond just posting pictures and text our Virtual Showroom concept provides the capability to the merchandiser to customize control over everything visitors see when they visit their Virtual Showroom.
There is a Virtual Showroom executive white paper available for download. Click here.
ApparelLink Virtual Showroom Frequently Asked Questions:
What is an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom?
In what ways is an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom similar to a “real” showroom?
How would an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom help my business?
Isn’t an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom just a web site?
That sounds technical. What do I have to know?
Do I need special equipment?
This all sounds very expensive! How much will it cost?
My brother-in-law offered to build my site for free. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of his offer?
The price seems fair but do you offer any discounts or incentives?
Are there any other charges?
What if I want to add special features that are not included in the original ApparelLink Virtual Showroom?
Is an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom an eCommerce site?
Can I sell retail from my ApparelLink Virtual Showroom?
In a mart I have to commit to a long lease. How long a period do I have to commit to for my Virtual Showroom?
If I don’t “own the building” what do I own?
I already have a static web site. Will my investment go to waste?
What does it take to get started?
OK, I have an empty, decorated ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. What do I do now?
What is an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom?
Briefly, an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom is an application on the Web that functions exactly as your “brick & mortar” Corporate Fashion Showroom would. It is an independent web presence for your company under your own domain name. It contains all the functionality necessary to support the sales of your line whether you have independent sales representatives or you sell wholesale directly to “in-house” accounts.
In what ways is an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom similar to a “real” showroom?
The first step in renting a showroom in the physical world is to select a location in a “mart” that is populated with similar businesses. You locate in a specialized mart to benefit from traffic generated by businesses similar to your own.
An ApparelLink Virtual Showroom becomes part of the ApparelLink network and gets to share established traffic from industry professionals immediately.
When you rent a showroom in a mart it is just an empty space waiting for you to decorate to your individual taste.
We “decorate” your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom to reflect your business’ identity.
Most showrooms in marts (and exhibits at markets) have windows or displays that are designed to attract potential customers. These displays are visible to competitors as well as customers so you usually limit your displays to styles that are already shipping. Once someone enters your showroom you determine if that person is qualified to view your lines before showing them your latest styles.
Your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom has open areas to attract the interest of potential customers as well as closed, password protected areas for “Preferred” visitors. The process for qualifying new customers is built into your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom.
How would an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom help my business?
An ApparelLink Virtual Showroom presents a large enterprise, professional online presence for your company, no matter its actual size. At a time when business travel is expensive, inconvenient and possibly dangerous, more and more people are looking for ways to do business remotely. An ApparelLink Virtual Showroom provides the tools to work online. It extends your exposure to markets that you might not otherwise reach. It supports your remote sales force with the most current information about your line. It allows qualified buyers to preview your line before they travel to a market and to review it after a market.
Isn’t an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom just a web site?
No! An ApparelLink Virtual Showroom is an application that consists of a comprehensive set of forms that allow you to enter information (text and images) into a database. That information is then used to populate a set of dynamically rendered web pages. Those pages serve up the latest information about your line immediately as you provide it. The Virtual Showroom contains virtual line sheets, market schedules, a retail outlet finder, sales rep information, dynamic purchase order forms and forms to help you qualify new accounts.
That sounds technical. What do I have to know?
It is not technical. By providing easy to use forms we eliminate any need for programming or webmaster skills. You do have to know how to access the web and to use a web browser. We provide instructions and a demo to assist in your use of your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. If you had a webmaster to program the content of each web page you would still have to provide that content. You might have to fill out forms that the webmaster would work from to program each web page. With your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom, once you complete the form and click a submit button the programming is done automatically.
Any computer that you are using to access the web will be able to open and use the administration console forms. All of the processing is done on our servers. You do create the images that you will be uploading to your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. If you are now taking pictures of your line for your line sheets you would use them. If you are using drawings or sketches then an inexpensive scanner would allow you to make them web-ready. A dial-up internet connection is adequate but a fast connection (cable or DSL) would be more efficient.
This all sounds very expensive! How much will it cost?
An ApparelLink Virtual Showroom would be very expensive if you were to build it from scratch but just as locating in a mart building, you do not have to own the building in order to rent a showroom. We provide all of the technology for your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom for a low monthly rent. Currently the cost of an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom is $240.00 per month (special discounts are available). One saved sales trip or one new customer can pay for a whole year’s rent.
A professionally designed static web site can cost thousands of dollars and require expensive webmaster services to keep current. Your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom requires no development costs and is self maintained by you thus eliminating expensive webmaster costs.
In just the first year your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom will save you at least two thousand dollars compared to the cost of a professionally designed and maintained basic static web site while offering a great deal more functionality.
My brother-in-law offered to build my site for free. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of his offer?
You are an apparel industry professional. Your business requires a professional web presence. Unlike your dynamic ApparelLink Virtual Showroom, a static web site will require frequent reprogramming in order to keep your line, sales and customer information up-to-date. Unless your brother-in-law is always available and extremely skilled, your fashion web site content will go stale very quickly.
When you work with a buyer and they ask if you have a web site they are not looking for a brochure about your company. They want to see your latest lines. Your Virtual Showroom allows you to provide them password-protected views of your most up-to-date line sheets.
The price seems fair but do you offer any discounts or incentives?
Yes! For now, FBI (Fashion Business Incorporated) members qualify for a 25% discount bringing the cost down to $180.00 per month. An FBI Business membership currently costs $150.00 so your net savings would be $570.00 per year. New renters get the first month free in order to get used to using their ApparelLink Virtual Showroom and for a limited time we will not charge a set up fee. Membership in other professional industry organizations may qualify for the discount as well.
No. There are web sites that will show your styles and charge for the service and then charge a commission for any orders that might be generated by their site. Their analogy would be that of a commissioned sales rep. Your line resides on their site, not yours. Your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom is designed as a "corporate" showroom. A corporate showroom isn’t expected to pay a real world mart a percentage of the business done in it and likewise we feel that your sales are your business. Our business is to provide you a venue to sell from and traffic to sell to.
What if I want to add special features that are not included in the original ApparelLink Virtual Showroom?
The general design of your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom is customized to your exclusive “look & feel” but if you want additional custom features we can build them for you. We can build Flash™ front ends, include streaming video and audio. Costs would be determined on an item by item basis.
Is an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom an eCommerce site?
Technically, no. The showroom is set up with a sophisticated dynamic purchase order system but just as in your offline business, each PO submitted online must be credit checked and approved for availability and completion dates. Financial transactions would be handled through your normal invoicing process.
Can I sell retail from my ApparelLink Virtual Showroom?
Your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom is designed with the same purpose as a professional corporate fashion showroom. Retail consumers wandering the halls of a wholesale mart or trade show would render those wholesale venues useless. You would not want retail consumers seeing wholesale prices and your regular retailer customers would not look favorably at your competing with them.
Each Virtual Showroom is equipped with a store finder. It is designed to send interested retail consumers to your client’s stores. Retailing is a separate business (and requires separate eCommerce functionality). If you were to have your own separate retail outlet web site (preferably under another name) you would then direct those interested consumers to that site through the store finder. Having a professional online presence such as established with an ApparelLink Virtual Showroom will lend credibility to your line in the eyes of an interested consumer and help generate consumer confidence.
In a mart I have to commit to a long lease. How long a period do I have to commit to for my Virtual Showroom?
We are absorbing the set up costs so we require an initial three month commitment. For that you get the first four months of operation (we include a “learning curve” month). After that you can rent your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom on a quarterly (3 month) basis.
If I don’t “own the building” what do I own?
Here again the “real world” analogy applies. Your samples (images) and promotional material (text) that you have populated your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom with belong to you. Any forms, page design/layouts, processes or anything else that we provide are the copyright-protected property of Saddle Stitch Group/ApparelLink and may not be used outside of your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom.
You also own your domain name; “www.yourcompany.com”. It is necessary to point it to our server in order for your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom to be found but if you decide to no longer rent from us you can point it anywhere else that you create a web presence.
I already have a static web site. Will my investment go to waste?
No. If you have an established online “look & feel” that you are happy with, many of the design elements may be put to use in your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. If you are currently showing images of your line they can be used in your virtual line sheets. Any descriptive text can be cut and pasted into the appropriate pages.
What does it take to get started?
You need a domain name (www.yourcompany.com) pointing to our server. If you already have a static web site we can help with the domain name transfer.
You should have a sense of how you want your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom to look, i.e. color and text elements, logo graphic, all the decorating components of your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. Once you provide all those components along with a three month payment we will get you set up in three to five business days.
OK, I have an empty, decorated ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. What do I do now?
You will need digital images of your line. They are easy to create. The help file includes instructions on how to create web-ready images but if you prefer we can recommend reasonably priced freelance web graphics specialists who can help you prepare them.
Even though you have paid for three months we provide an additional month to help you past the learning curve. We provide a demo site with pop-up hints on each page that explain its functionality and a set of step by step instructions. Once you spend some time on the demo site and follow the instructions you will be on your way to making full use of your ApparelLink Virtual Showroom. If for some reason you have difficulty with any part of your set up we also provide two hours of telephone support during the first month and unlimited email support.
For additional questions:
818 353 1876