Following our December event which featured speakers from E-commerce sites, we sat down with Kate Jansen, marketing co-ordinator for Zando, to sum up the two most talked about points at the moment regarding the online clothing and shoe store – the multi-million investment they received and their controversial targeted advertising.

In its first year since launching, Zando has seen a lot of success, including an international investment. How did this investment come about and what will it specifically be used for?

We had a couple of investors approach us in 2012, requesting a proposal with various pieces of information about the business, and we were lucky enough to get two of those investors interested in our business. One investment was for 20 million Euros, and the other was a double digit US figure. It will be used to grow the business – we’re moving into new offices in January, and we have over two hundred employees. So it’s going to be used towards our development.

Zando has a strong online presence in the form of banner ads and targeted ads, which has sometimes been criticized as too invasive. What was the strategy behind this and will it change going forward in 2013?

I think you’re referring to our re-targeting ads, which has actually become a point of jest at work. We’ve got quite a few buyers on the team and I am constantly told, “It’s amazing, I saw an ad and it had exactly what I was looking at on the site, it must be a fate that I should buy it!” So the short answer is no, we definitely won’t be stopping it. It has the strongest conversion rate of any of our advertising and it’s highly effective. So yes, it may be seen as too invasive, but we are a start-up, so our core focus will always be on growing the business – and that means making money. So if something is working we are definitely not going to stop it. We do monitor any questions or complaints that come in about it, and we take that into consideration in terms of frequency capping, but we certainly wouldn’t stop using the tactic.

Thanks for sitting down with us, Kate. To find out more about Kate’s presentation at our event, read the summary here. Or check out the Zando store here.

Read more posts by Wendy Tayler

Wendy is the Editor in Chief at Heavy Chef. After 3 years cooking up a storm at UNISA studying English and Communications, Wendy decided to mesh her passion for writing with her love of digital. She firmly believes the world is moving into the online sphere and can be found writing, tracking down great names for interviews, or singing her heart out at the World Wide Creative studio.

Follow Wendy on Twitter

Related posts:

1. Heavy Chef December Session Review: Zando, Kalahari And Yuppiechef On E-commerce
2. Twitter Investment Valued at $8 Billion
3. Advertising Agencies Employ Retargeting Strategies
4. How The Youth Will Drive Technology In 2013
5. Dave Duarte On Social Media In South Africa: 30% Growth Expected In 2013