Online shopping find: Urban Rituelle

You know how some scents can instantly take you back to a particular point in time? Several years ago, I went on a great adventure with two of my best mates to Egypt and Morocco. While I was all for camping out under the stars, there was no way I was going to give up all my little luxuries, so I packed a gorgeous Urban Rituelle mango scented fragrance. I smelt delicious wherever I was, even if it was on top of a smelly, hairy camel. Urban Rituelle has a diverse range of beautiful bath and body products you simply must check out for yourself. Co-founder Leanne Haining tells us more about her gorgeous brand here.

Who

Leanne Haining, creative director and co-founder, Urban Rituelle

What is the name of your online store?
Urban Rituelle E-boutique

What do you sell in your store?
Urban Rituelle is an innovative brand of Australian made bath, body and beauty products. Our e-boutique sells our complete product collection online! This includes moisturising lip balms, nourishing hand creams, soothing body balms, fragrant soy wax candles, cleansing bath and shower gels, creamy vegetable soaps, organic baby skincare, luxurious body creams, perfumes, body scrubs, men’s grooming products and a gorgeous collection of organic skin treats.

How did the idea for your store come about?
Urban Rituelle was established back in 1998. I met my partner (Urban Rituelle co-founder) Scott Kelly whilst travelling abroad. Our shared experiences travelling through South East Asia bought us a renewed appreciation for the simple, yet profoundly joyful little luxuries in life. This evolved into a desire to create a range of products that would enhance and celebrate everyday rituals. We returned home to Sydney and Urban Rituelle was born! Initially the collection was sold at an inner-city artisan market, but in the 14 years since, it’s expanded and grown into the business it is today.

Our products are now sold in gorgeous home and lifestyle boutiques across Australia and exported to a number of international markets. Following the rise in popularity of online shopping and increasing demand from our customers, we launched our e-boutique in 2010 and it has been growing ever since. The beauty of our e-boutique is that fans can now enjoy the products, regardless of their location. While the majority of our customers are Australian, we receive orders from as far as Sweden!

What is your career background?
I have always had a love for creativity and art in various forms. I studied a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Ceramics and spent the early years of my career working in visual merchandising for a large retail group. My passion for art, travel, fashion, textile design and graphic imagery still provides such a potent source of inspiration in my work…so often I am inspired by these elements when I am creating new products and designing our new ranges.

Who is your key customer?
The typical Urban Rituelle customer is female, aged anywhere from 15 to 60. Generally they are looking for either a beautiful gift to spoil that someone special or a little piece of luxury for themselves. That said, our product range is diverse and includes ranges designed for men and women, newborns, tweens and teens, right through to a more sophisticated and mature market, so we do have a wide variety of customers! Overall our customers are people who love that we’re 100% Australian made and owned and that we offer luxurious, yet affordable products designed to enhance their everyday rituals.

How do you make it easy for your online customers to buy from you?
Shopping online with Urban Rituelle is an easy, fun and beautiful experience. Our website is user friendly and offers the option to shop by collection (if you’re seeking a particular fragrance or range) or by product (if, for example, you know you’re in desperate need of a new lipbalm or hand cream!). We offer free shipping on all orders over $75 to anywhere in Australia and a simple $10 flat rate shipping for all orders under $75.

We are passionate about customer service. Our website is supported by the team at Urban Rituelle HQ – so six days a week there will always be someone on the other end of the phone if customers would rather call and ask questions than email. We’re also social media nuts, so are always happy to take enquiries via our Facebook page.

Do you sell in person or in a physical store as well?
Yes. Our products are stocked in over 1,500 beautiful stores across Australia, including our very own flagship boutique in Caringbah, southern Sydney. Stockist details are available on our website; www.urbanrituelle.com.au

List your current most popular products.
Sweet Treats Petit Parfum: Perfectly sized and available in five delicious fragrances, these little sweethearts are a handbag must-have!

Flourish Organics Hand Cream: An all-natural, skin nurturing hand cream that is ideal for restoring dry skin and conditioning split cuticles. Pure bliss to use!

Beachcomber Summer Scents: Inspired by exotic summer notes, this shimmering perfume spray is sunshine in a bottle and will transport your senses to a balmy, tropical paradise.

What’s next for your online store?
It’s an exciting time for the Urban Rituelle e-boutique. We’ve just launched our brand-new, beautiful Spring/Summer 2012 collections, which customers are loving. We’re also planning some wonderful updates to our e-boutique, such as introducing customer reviews to the product catalogue. We receive so many wonderful testimonials and would love UR fans to be able to share them with other customers on the site. Stay tuned – we’re soon to announce a great online competition (social media superstars will love this one!).

Styling You’s top 3

1. Cucumber and linden blossom fragrance garden gift set, $39.95 |2. Frangipani body wash, $19.95 | 3. Lemongrass organic body cream, $32.95

Have you found a great online store recently? Did it offer great products or service? Leave a comment below and let us all know about it.

*We were gifted an item from Urban Rituelle in accordance with our Disclosure Policy