Selling Local Clothes Online - The AfroChic Story
Ever heard that first impressions last longer? The first impression someone is ever going to have about you is your attire.
The days are gone when all you needed were a piece of calico and wrapper. The days are also passing when second-hand clothing, also known as ‘obroni w’awu,’ was enough to make the Ghanaian look admirable.
In contemporary times, fashion is big business and the trend is shifting in favour of exquisite African designs and fabrics. The reason, many have said, is due to the rising cost of foreign designs and brands. A simple foreign branded T-shirt is likely to cost the average individual GH¢30 and this phenomenon is putting people off.
Smart local designers are not only cashing in on the re-awakening and the rising taste for local cuts but they are also looking for new designs and classs that appeal to the ordinary Ghanaian and other nationals.
Two young ladies have taken Ghanaian designs to another level by designing and creating an online platform to market apparels made from African textiles. Ms Esi Clearland and Ms Adwoa Perbi run AfroChic which transforms African textiles into exotic designs and use the internet as a marketing tool to reach thousands of Ghanaians and millions across the world.
The duo have created an online platform from where customers can access and choose from a wide variety of clothes in different colours and shapes and just click an icon and the order will be delivered on a chosen day and time convenient for the customer.
This puts Ghana on the path of competing in the world of fashion in the foreseeable future.
AfroChic started as a casual conversation between two friends who were appalled by the relatively higher cost of clothes, particularly those made from African textiles.
They said although they were familiar with renowned designers such as Kofi Ansah while growing up, it was clear that the clothing and apparel industry in Ghana was not developing fast to match the textile industry, a gap they sought to bridge.
Ms Clearland and Ms Perbi expressed worry about the stagnant growth of the textile industry in Ghana and said there was the need for support so the industry players could improve on quality and designs.
“By now the industry should be concerned with how to compete with emerging markets like China and India, since we have the raw materials. Players should also reduce the prices of locally made textiles and this can be done if there is a chamber of commerce of some sort where information can be easily accessed.”
Esi, educated at Wesley Girls Senior High School and Smith College in the United States and Adwo, a graduate of Cornell University and Achimota School, decided to firm up their discussion with action to make African prints and apparels more affordable to the average Ghanaian.
They, therefore, conducted an online survey and later a random sampling survey at Ghana’s popular shopping destination, the Accra Mall, on whether they will purchase already-made clothes made from African textiles.
In addition, the two also sought opinions from seamstresses and fashion designers on the success rate of selling already-sewn African clothes in Ghana.
When it became clear from the survey that the venture was a possibility, Adwoa, a computer science scholar, and Esi, a laboratory technician, disclosed that, like other Ghanaians, they didn’t want to belabour solutions but “we wanted it to happen.” Subsequently, AfroChic was registered as a business in April 2009, long before products became available.”
Asked why the company decided to do business online, the Marketing Manager, Ms Esi Clearland, said the business was not originally planned to be an online shop, but they were forced to start from there due to inadequate funds to rent a physical shop.
“We could not raise the need finances to pay for the three to five years’ rent. Instead, we created a website which cost us far lesser than the rent. Our targets – young professionals who have no time to go round and shop – grabbed this opportunity and patronised it,” Mr Clearland said.
The website was designed by Adwoa, with her background in computer science, and it was launched in December 2009 on facebook, a popular social networking platform. AfroChic has since opened a physical shop at home.
Since its inception, AfroChic has employed a total of about 14 workers who are on contract and it has started recording some profits.
“Our main aim is to clothe Africa from within and we haven’t reached anywhere yet, because we are just within Accra and we hope to operate in other parts of Africa in the near future and judging from the enthusiastic response from Ghana, the future looks bright,” Ms Clearland told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS.
The two young entrepreneurs, however, recounted some challenges the fledgling company faced. “First, because it is a relatively new venture, coupled with low internet penetration rate in the country, people find it doubtful to place their order online. They also find it difficult to get their way around the internet, although the site was interactive enough.”
Another challenge in the online business, she said, was the lack of a reliable and secure online payment platform. To get around this, Afro Chic has decided to receive payment at the point of delivery.
Ms Clearland told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that although they had no skills in clothing and textiles design, the company bought the textiles and gave them to various fashion designers and seamstresses to sew and returned to AfroChic for delivery.
With barely three years in operation, AfroChic has had enquiries from many countries, including Canada, Norway and the United States, on how they could purchase their clothes. For now, the fledging company has not been able to satisfy that segment of the market as it is focusing on the local market.
Like many enterprises in Ghana, the company has its fair share of challenges as a small business.
First, Ms Clearland said, they found it difficult to combine their regular work with running the online business. Adwoa worked in laboratory, while Esi was a teacher. Since the start of the business, they have resigned from their former jobs.
Also, the co-founders relied on their personal savings to finance the business and they have now reached a difficult peak where higher demands now called for a bigger working capital.
In all intents and purposes, this new trend holds the prospects of offering employment to many young people, since the textile industry is labour intensive and if well-patronised, it could just be the sub-sector to create a niche for Ghanaian products in the African market in the near future. GB