New baby clothing brand - your views?

[jomtm]

Hi, I've recently launched a little business called Jack & Ginger designing and printing baby grows - hoping to extend this to t-shirts and include a range for toddlers and older kids soon.

Will be attending fairs over the coming 12 months but at the moment the products are only available to buy online.

Grows are ethically sourced, made from organic cotton and the print uses high grade garment vinyl for the best results and soft non-peel baby friendly branding.

Would really appreciate some feedback on the website and products at www.jackandginger.uk

Anyone interested in ordering PM me for a voucher code for free P&P!

Look forward to getting your views to help develop the business/brand further.

Many thanks.

Why do the say baby grow when they are vests? And yes, it's Babygro although I would use the word onesie.

ringle & Loverunandwine - Thanks . The comments have been quite 'blunt' shall we say but it's all genuine feedback so we just take it on the chin and try to learn from it to improve the site and products.

ArcheryAnnie - Yes, we're big fans of Redbubble but that's a marketplace for designers. We're trying to keep to designs and slogans that have a similar style to develop a brand. Appreciate that you don't find them that exciting though, again it's personal taste I guess. Would you consider purchasing at these prices if they were more complicated, varied designs?

elQuintoConyo - 'kinda' is 'kind of' so we do need the a. Thanks for the feedback though. Can I ask how much you generally pay for babygros?

GreenGoblin0 - Getting some random feedback on what we call the products that are on the site. Suits, babygros, babygrows, vests. I think we need to put this out to vote and then adjust it accordingly! We will be adding more garment types soon.

Alittlepotofrosie - We do colours as well! Do you buy slogan garments currently and what on average are you willing to pay?

welshweasel - We're hoping to add more garment types soon please bear us in mind in future.

Youcanstayundermyumbrella - Really interested to know what terminology people use for these!

Your opinions please - should we refer to these as bodysuits, babygros, babygrows or vests??

you've also handled the IP issue well. kudos!

You are selling vests, babygros are sleepsuits.

jomtm it's just that you seem to think you have a "brand" when all you have is about half-a-dozen pretty standard slogans, none of which are all that original or all that exciting. You have two actual designs, a cupcake and a pair of elf shoes, neither of which are all that different from anything else on the market, and one of which is very season-specific.

If I was to see any of them in a shop or a market stall, i might well buy one - they aren't bad. But I wouldn't go to the effort of ordering them from a website because they aren't that special, either.

(And agree with the chalkboard thing just being a pointless bit of tat, not an exciting part of a "bundle".)

I do agree with everyone else who has said how well you are taking all this feedback, so kudos to you! I wish more companies did this, then we'd have a lot less pointless tat on the market.

MyDcAreMarvel - Thanks. So you refer to these as vests not bodysuits?

I would wait until you have the garments in stock and get some proper professional stock photography done.

I'm not sure if the Expresso to go is supposed to be Espresso?

They are definitely vests too.

I used to design and sell children's t shirts. I would draw my own designs, then send them to someone to design it digitally.

I would research into what typography is popular at the moment, the designs look a little bit like they have just been taken from Microsoft word or similar.

I would call them bodysuits or maybe vests. If they have arms and legs in them I call them sleepsuits. It’s definitely not babygrow but if you use babygro that would be the one with arms and legs.

I would call them bodysuits. Vests to me don't have a bottom half

I think - though you will want to research - that Babygro is a registered trademark

TBH I would look at what somewhere like Mothercare or Gap call their stock and follow suite

Can the items be tumble dried or will the printing crack? This is super important for parents especially in the winter months.

Price point cannot go beyond a tenner for a vest including the personalised ones. Even then that is pushing it.

Sorry not for me at all, I hate slogans. And I hate slogans on baby clothes even more.

Personally, this isn’t something I would buy for my kids or would gift to a friend. I think slogans on kids clothing (who can’t read!) are very tacky.

If I did want something like this I can get it on eBay for a few pounds with free p&p.

Hi, I think the brand you are trying to create is not very consistent.

Jack & Ginger, as a name, combined with the ethical sourcing of the fabrics and some of the photos on your site suggest you are going for a modern, contemporary, tasteful and slightly hipster brand.

The website design and the product do not align with this. Both look a bit cheap and tacky (sorry). The fonts used on the products are not very contemporary and while I appreciate the red is to provide high contrast to demonstrate the design and positioning on the product, I think it's too bold to appeal to many prospective shoppers.

Look at different shops on Etsy if you want some inspiration. Take note of how they present the product, the fonts they use, the colour palettes, etc. Smallternative is an example of a shop that does contemporary printing on baby clothes, including slogans, but feels modern and more unique than the style you present (which arguably could be produced in any printing shop).

I am not your target market as I avoid children's clothing with slogans, however, I am a marketing professional and someone who would spend money on bespoke babywear if it were to my taste.

I know they’re not going to be organic cotton etc, but the designs are very similar to ones on baby vests in the pound shop clothes section near me for £1.50 each 🙈
They were what came to mind when I saw your vests, sorry. I do think £8 or more for one vest is a lot, for something that doesn’t get seen under clothes, I would probably pay that much for a babygrow I liked but not a vest

I suggest you revisit your understanding of the Consumer Contract Regulations. A customer has to notify you of their intention to return within 14 days of receipt. They then have a further 14 days to return the goods. You cannot make any deduction from their return unless the goods have not been returned in their original condition. You must refund the original postage they paid, but they are responsible for return costs unless faulty or an incorrect item. You cannot say you will not refund for lost parcels being returned to you. If the customer provides you with a proof of postage you are obliged to refund.

It's a great website layout and a good idea. Although it's a highly saturated market you might be one of the few that might come out on top if you stick at it and learn from your mistakes.

However, you need to look into a niche that will make customers come running to you instead of your competitors. You should also def look into etsy or folksy as you'll be surprised on how many people are already trading in this market.

Thank you to everyone who posted with a constructive reply to this. You've given us an insight into how we can improve and move forward with this little venture. We clearly have some work to do but we won't be throwing the towel in anytime soon...

There are too many posts to reply to individually now but if I can offer a little feedback on our experience of this forum perhaps that might be useful too.

The tone of a couple of the comments seems to have gone up a notch We're just two women trying our hand at starting an online business. We don't assume to be a "brand" but we do aspire to one day be one (everyone can dream) and we're willing to listen to feedback - both good and bad - to help us on our way.

It's such a shame that there seem to be angry people everywhere! Perhaps it's just the nature of anonymous posting, but whatever happened to people wanting to support each other I wonder?

Thanks again for the genuine feedback and watch this space

consider the thread good practice for the stupendous amount of patience you will need if you ever have have to deal with reviews on Amazon, etc. :). And be glad you aren't in a job where it feels even more personal, like acting, etc.

The qualities that make a good business succeed are attention to customers, patience, persistence and determination. You've already manifested several of those just by turning up and asking for feedback.

Typos, regulatory slips, misjudgments - all those can be corrected

We don't assume to be a "brand"

Even the title of your post says that you are a brand.

It's such a shame that there seem to be angry people everywhere! Perhaps it's just the nature of anonymous posting, but whatever happened to people wanting to support each other I wonder?

You seem to think that not all the responses on this thread are "genuine" feedback, and that those of us who haven't posted how wonderful you are are somehow angry.

We're all busy. We all took the time to read your post, look at your website, click around it, think about the questions you asked, and then post feedback. Some of us did that more than once because you had made changes. You might not believe it, but the people posting negative feedback were doing you a favour every bit as much as the people posting positive feedback, and it's a little irritating to be told off by you for not gushing, when we have put time, thought and effort into giving you the feedback you said you wanted.

If you don't understand the value of research and feedback, good and bad, then perhaps you aren't ready for the world of retail.

on a side note, I am always fascinated by the varying uses of the term "brand".

Something that jumped out at me in your OP was that the products are made of organic cotton, but that the print in ‘vinyl’. I’m assuming that is some kind of plastic, which seems at odds with the ethical basis of the garment. I know there are lots of people who want t bout organic, but don’t want the clothes to look too ‘hippyish’, which is often the case. I would imagine, however, they would prefer natural materials for the slogans too.

Well done for starting up, though, and good luck.