For the first time in six years, the birth rate in New Zealand has dipped by 2% with 62,960 births recorded by Statistics New Zealand for the period June ’08 – June ’09. Breastfeeding expert France McInnes thinks the recession may be what’s dampening our birth rate but, surprisingly, it has been great for business!
Despite the downturn (both in birth rate and economic conditions), McInnes’ online maternity store, Breastmates, experienced a significant increase in turnover. Breastmates’ weekly turnover has in fact increased 7.5 times compared to last year.
McInnes explained it’s a combination of things. “First you have women who are forced back into the workforce by economic conditions, but who still want to breastfeed; sales of our breast pumps for example have increased markedly,” she said.
Breastmates customer Nicole Whippy, or Kasey from Outrageous Fortune, just gave birth to a baby girl: “I purchased a breast pump so that I can continue giving Pearl breast milk while I’m filming.”
The second factor is that while budget brands are obviously doing well, premium products are also doing surprisingly well. Breastmates has both the essential and the luxury. “The addition of luxury products such as designer maternity bras and sleepwear has seen the average order value nearly double in the past year,” McInnes said. “In a recession we all work harder than ever so we deserve a little luxury!”
The ease of an online store is also proving preferable for new mothers unable to get to a shopping centre easily. “The breast pump was delivered the very next day and I was really pleased with the ongoing support I received,” Whippy enthused. “The ability to speak to someone on the other end of the phone and have all my questions answered was fantastic.“
Lastly, Frances’ innovative marketing initiatives have helped her business grow into a one-stop-shop from an idea she had just five years ago. With a limited budget she had to devise creative ways to introduce Breastmates to an ever-changing market of pregnant women.
As an online business, she has rightly embraced new technology such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to give her business a personal touch while keeping customers informed in an often over-crowded and confusing baby market.
In recognition of her marketing techniques and increasingly successful company, Breastmates has been awarded the overall Supreme Award at the David Awards for Small Business, announced recently.
One judge commented: Breastmates has created “a very viable, successful business but more so she’s taken what is quite a niche area around breastfeeding and has established herself as an expert.”
When asked about what was her key was to keeping customers happy, Frances replied, “Treating each customer as a person and not just another order to fill, as if they are the only person I deal with in the whole day.” Though the contrary is true, and Frances deals with an excess of 50-100 emails on breastfeeding and bottle-feeding questions each day.
McInnes wants Breastmates shoppers to have a worthwhile shopping experience, with great product selection, good service and knowledge on the products being sold, and a no-fuss returns policy for those buying online.
“I would absolutely recommend Breastmates to all mums as a one-stop solution for feeding requirements,” Whippy said.
