Phoebe Philo Online: Can Price Exist Without Experience?
- Maryna Borysenko
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
1. I have placed 1,000+ orders online — most of them within luxury fashion, both for myself and my clients, as well I currently own a lifestyle e-shop. While there is currently buzz around the new PP drop preview, available in June, I decided to revisit the website to see how user-friendly it is. I had done this before and expected some changes — but nothing has improved.
2. If we consider that the ultimate aim of the Phoebe Philo brand is to generate revenue — whether by catering to the 1% or through audience expansion — the biggest obstacle to actually selling is its e-store.
3. The current state of its still primary sales channel is not conducive to selling. Product information, especially imagery, is inconsistent, and sizing information is not reliable.
4. In e-commerce, the main goal of a product page is to drive conversion by building confidence. This is achieved through what I would call commercial imagery and commercial styling — where the item is clearly understandable and free from distraction.
5. As I mentioned before, after trying on the items, it became clear that the information on the website is insufficient and does not reflect the reality of the product.
6. A product page is also an organic way to increase order value and facilitate the discovery of other products. Almost none of these mechanics are used on the Phoebe Philo website.
7. Interestingly, the brand, whose platform is built on Shopify, offers a one-step checkout. While this may reduce friction during the ordering process, it disrupts the logic of a luxury purchase and is, for that reason, rarely adopted by other players in the category.
8. Additionally, the overall visual language — background color and typography — is difficult to process.
9. On top of that the website is not structured in a way that supports research or exploration.
10. Obviously, there are many additional factors to consider, and depending on the brand, its story, and its offering, the e-commerce strategy should be adapted accordingly.
11. However, to reach that point, one must first build the fundamentals — and in its third year, those fundamentals are still underdeveloped.
12. On top of that, the higher-than-item-only pricing — which can be justified through storytelling and experience — does not add up, on the offline experience side too. I’m not sure how much has changed since my last visit to the brand’s corner, but at that time the fitting room had weak lighting, an underwhelming interior, and — most memorably — a clothing hook that was nearly falling off.
