Sailing brand Henri Lloyd relaunches online store

Henri Lloyd, a brand from the UK that’s specialized in sailing clothing, has relaunched its online store. This is the result of a digital transformation the brand has gone through since it was acquired by Aligro Group last year.

Henri Lloyd became one of the retail victims that had to fight against the challenging conditions on the high street. Swedish investor Aligro Group came on board as lenders in March last year, but couldn’t fix the “difficult financial situation”, as Sail World put it. ” Unfortunately, the situation continued to worsen, and filing for administration became inevitable.”

Ecommerce now plays a central role

But in November last year, Henri Lloyd was set to return to the market. Aligro Group relaunched the business after it collapsed into administration last summer. After a digital transformation, the sailing brand is back on the market with a new strategy, new design and new digital focus, where ecommerce plays a central role.

Henri Lloyd is now a digital first brand. The company still runs its flagship stores in the United Kingdom, but 80 percent of the physical retail branch has been cut. The Swedish owner has also moved the brand’s headquarters from Manchester to Gothenburg, Sweden.

‘Brand was lagging in digitalization’

The brand now wants to strengthen their own digital channels by launching their own online flagship store, which is built with Swedish ecommerce software Centra. “We saw a great opportunity for improvement as the brand was lagging in its digitalization. The logo has been redesigned, but most importantly, we’ve transformed the company to become a strong digital player that will make Henri Lloyd accessible to customers all over the world through our own online flagship store”, CEO Magnus Liljeblad says.

Henri Lloyd controls business-to-supplier channels

The owners want to reposition Henri Lloyd as a premium brand. As a result, besides its own flagship stores, the brand will still be available in physical stores, but only through a few hand-picked retailers. And sales to these channels will be controlled through a digital showroom, which gives Henri Lloyd full control over distribution in both their direct-to-consumer and business-to-supplier channels.

‘We need to be more selective of our presence’

“We still see great value in being present in physical retail. But need to be much more selective of where we are displayed to maintain the qualities and values of a premium brand. Our new strategy focuses on just that; physical accessibility through strategic retailers, and global accessibility through our online flagship store”, Liljeblad explains.