Aside from the masses of people, silent but apparent judgement and trick reflective surfaces – physical shopping is a great way to spend your time. You get to try on exorbitantly priced designer shoes/jackets/pants, engage in witty sartorial banter with perky shop assistants and bump into people you know and say things like “I would totally buy that if they had it in black” or “trust me, it looks way better on you” without actually meaning a word of it. Sometimes though, you’ll develop the unexplainable urge to buy watches at 3 in the morning or find the act of shopping (with zero intention of buying) slightly embarrassing, or, sometimes, putting on pants and leaving the house is too daunting a task to undertake when this totally hilarious Youtube video of a seven year old kicking a soccer ball into his own head is waiting to be viewed on your computer. What’s a shopper to do? Duh, that’s what the internet is for.
To wit, the latest boutique to embrace the digital revolution is awesome-shit emporium Incu, who have just launched an online store with wares from (deep breath now) Acne, Band of Outsiders, Comfort Station, Deadly Ponies, Elke Kramer, Erin Wasson X RVCA, Iosselliani, Lyle & Scott, Modern Amusement, Oliver Spencer, Opening Ceremony, Our Legacy, PAM, Peter Jensen, Rittenhouse, Something Else, T By Alexander Wang, Therese Rawsthorne, This Is Not A Polo Shirt, Vanishing Elephant, Warriors Of Radness, Wethered and Wood Wood. To get the lowdown on their new digital venture, Pedestrian had a quick chat to Incu head honcho Vincent Wu who discussed Springtime essentials, new projects and digital vs. physical retailing.
Why did you choose to launch an online store now when Incu has been operating for a few years now? We’ve been talking about an online store for a long time, but we wanted to wait until we had all the resources and could do it properly.
How do you think this will compliment your physical retail offering? It’s just another avenue in which we can reach our customers. The online store is open 24 hours a day, so customers can see what Incu has to offer after hours.
What has managing a physical retailer taught you about how to approach the online store? Don’t underestimate how long everything takes and always prepare for all-nighters before the launch. It’s important never to compromise on your vision, however don’t expect everything to be perfect for the launch. It’s always a work in progress. Also it’s about exceeding customer expectations, and letting Incu’s personality come through.
Will online retailing ever surpass physical retailing? I don’t think so. It’s definitely becoming more popular now, but I don’t think it will be able to replicate the customer experience in a physical store environment. We see online as an extension of the physical stores, rather than something that will one day replace our stores.
What online stores do you use? I don’t buy a lot of clothes online, but when I do I like Tres Bien and Opening Ceremony, because they have a lot of collections that I admire and love to wear.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve bought online? Not sure if this is weird, but I actually buy quite a lot of my groceries online these days, because I have three kids, and both my wife and I don’t have the time to go out often.
Coming into Spring what do you see as the essential transitional pieces? For women, I see a softer palette coming through such as nudes and blush tones. For menswear, I think earthy colours are definitely coming in, often in linen or cotton mixes.
Are there any other exciting projects in the pipeline? We are planning our first women’s store in Melbourne next year. We had so much fun when we opened our men’s store there last year, so we are really looking forward to it.
CHECK OUT INCU’S ONLINE STORE HERE
