Shantelle Pross-Vale, creative director of Aussie e-retailer, Showpo recently spoke with Inside Retail about how the company has navigated the obstacle course that is start-up life, and how creativity underpins every aspect of the burgeoning fashion house.

With a background in graphic design, fashion PR, marketing and fashion design, Pross-Vale has used her creative nous to expand Showpo’s rapidly growing online audience of over one million Instagram and 675,000+ Facebook followers.

Pross-Vale credits her education in the hands on learning environment at CATC School of Design, with helping her craft creative fashion shoots, look books and the online style of Showpo’s interface which has helped the business become a national and global e-commerce brand in six years.

Inside Retail: What have been the biggest challenges for Showpo, in moving from being start-up to established e-commerce retailer?

Shantelle Pross-Vale: Getting caught up in wanting to be a lean start-up and taking more risks in innovation and investment.

IR: What are the major features of Showpo’s approach to e-commerce?

SPV: Customers always come first, we as girls in our demographic, know what our customer wants and spend our days making that happen. This goes from great customer service, social media, dropping over 100 new arrivals weekly and being on top of current trends.

IR: To what extent does creativity play a role in the business?

SPV: Creativity is in everything we do. From our company culture, to our social media, styling, marketing, everything. A perk of still being a ‘start up’ business is that we’re still learning and growing, so we aren’t afraid to try new things and take creative risks.

IR: How has 2016 been for Showpo, in terms of the overall business?

SPV: Amazing, our business has grown by a lot, we have worked on improving processes and laying the foundations for a bigger growth year head for 2016.

IR: Does an engaged social media audience translate to sales for Showpo – are sales conversions necessarily the aim of Showpo’s social media strategy?

SPV: Sales are the ultimate goal underpinning all that we do. And yes an engaged social media audience translates to sales if the audience is in the right demographic, which it is for us.

IR: What’s on the horizon for Showpo in terms of initiatives and future plans?

SPV: Product expansion, international expansion and creative innovation.

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