SurfStitch.com has become the first Australian online retailer to offer 200 surf and fashion wear brands.
The 200th label is denim fashion brand Lee Jeans. Launched in September 2008 as Australia’s first online surf retailer, the business has expanded to be the preferred online destination for both surf and fashion.
SurfStitch began in the back yard shed of one of its original founders on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the heart of Sydney’s surfing mecca. It quickly grew, catering to an unmet market of not only online consumers but also rural areas throughout Australia where consumers previously had limited choice and breadth of brands and products.
“We knew there was a consumer audience just waiting to access all the great surf and fashion brands online in Australia,” says Justin Cameron, founding director. “Once several marquee brands shared the vision we had for SurfStitch, allowing SurfStitch to operate an online store, customers quickly reacted to a new offering.”
SurfStitch.com continues to maintain a top 10 position as one of the most trafficked Australian retail sites for nearly three years, according to Experian Hitwise reports. Since its launch, the business has achieved nearly 30 million site visits from over 200 countries with 250+million page views.
The business, which started with only 14 brands, has continued to experience exponential growth and has ambitions to reach 300 brands in 2012. Using the latest web and distribution technologies, SurfStitch.com has the capacity to offer thousands of more items to its current list of over 15,000 products, and can process up to 4500 orders in one day.
“Our team has worked hard to support our hyper growth. We’ve upgraded to a new facility, use best in breed technologies, and provide for a work environment which sees the energy and passion of our staff passed on to our customers. We would not be here today without the amazing staff we have working at SurfStitch” says Lex Pedersen, another founding director.
It is expected that SurfStitch will exceed over $30 million in revenue in the near future. The company now employs over 100 staff in the Gold Coast while still maintaining part of its operation in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
With the launch of Lee Jeans as its 200th brand, Surfstitch is planning significant promotional offers for the next two weeks, major prize packs, customers winning back orders and hourly Facebook giveaways.
