|
Introduction to EziBuy History February 19, 2007
"When I founded the business with my brother, Gerard, in Palmerston North more than 30 years ago, I could not envisage that it would evolve into what it is today" says Peter Gillespie.
EziBuy's first catalogue was a folded, A3 sheet of paper with black and white line drawings, advertising everything from womenswear to hardware. It was posted to a mailing list of clubs and organisations compiled from telephone directories in 1978.
It was soon realised that the company's future lay in mail order catalogues. Over the years, telephone ordering and online purchasing complemented mail order activity. Catalogues still remain the cornerstone of our ever-expanding multi-channel business model that services customers throughout New Zealand and Australia.
From humble beginnings in a small administrative and warehouse complex and a single store in Palmerston North, EziBuy has grown to an infrastructural base boasting a growing network of retail stores, a state-of-the art Contact Centre and a Distribution Centre that is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
EziBuy has built its success on a loyal customer base, the dedication of its staff. EziBuy is proud to have in excess of a 600-strong team who are committed to growing our business and continuing to provide the highest level of services to our customers. "I am exceptionally proud of where we have come from and am inspired and excited about where we are going to" said Peter.
Thirty years after it was founded, EziBuy is established as a business with over 50% of its customers across the Tasman. It is one of the few New Zealand companies to successfully integrate into the Australian market and is an outstanding example of one that has achieved on an international level.
We are committed to enhancing our ability to maximise growth opportunities through targeted acquistions and the investment in infrastructure and resources. Already at the forefront of distribution and customer service technologies, EziBuy is able to fulfil increased demand from our expansion in the domestic and Australian markets.
In recent years, EziBuy has supplemented its multichannel business with growth in the wholesaling of its own brand and the purchase of Profile, a corporate apparel company. Ezibuy also has a 50% ownership of childrenswear brand JK.
Today EziBuy produces over 35 catalogues annually that are mailed to more than half a million active customers in New Zealand and Australia. The company dispatches an average of 9,000 parcels a day to Australasian shoppers and processes approximately 2 million orders per year.
EziBuy's catalogues showcase the company's core women's clothing brands of Capture, Emerge, Grace Hill and Urban. Sara is another company-owned brand which offers women's plus size clothing. The brand stable is then extended further by exclusive European brands of Together and Men's Clothing, Homeware, Lingerie and Gift.
The development and growth of the EziBuy online clothing store is being driven by the need to keep ahead of the rapid and increased utilisation of the Internet by customers and is currently the fastest growing channel for EziBuy. Furthermore, EziBuy's traditional retail offering is being increased through the national expansion of its stores in New Zealand.
EziBuy acknowledges the vital role and contribution of its staff and invests significant time and resources into their continued development as a high-performance team which embraces a future-thinking, customer-centric approach.
Our aim is to always deliver a premier catalogue service that provides outstanding customer service, quality and value. The principles of honesty, integrity, trust and pride are fundamental to all our relationships with customers, suppliers and colleagues. |
