Online shopping find: Elk

One of my all-time favourite Australian labels Elk has just launched its latest summer range online. I am thrilled. Stunning digital print dresses, sweet and simple wooden necklaces and buttery soft leather bags – you definitely need to get onto this gorgeous site, stat! This week, founder Marnie Goding tells us a bit more about the brand and how it all began.

1. Who?
Marnie Goding

2. What is the name of your online store?
Elk

3. What do you sell in your store?
We sell our own designs which cover a range of clothing, accessories and leather goods for men and women

4. How did the idea for your store come about?
Elk originally began as an accessories brand as we saw a niche for well-priced jewellery and accessories that were clean and simple in their aesthetic. From there we began wholesaling and moved into online retail in 2009. We were enjoying fantastic media coverage and from this customers in regional areas and overseas started contacting us with requests to buy online.

5. What is your career background?
I have a marketing degree but started working with Adam (my husband and business partner) in his fine jewellery studio. From there we found our market and I worked through jewellery, accessory and clothing production.

6. Who is your key customer?
Our key customer is a woman who wants a fashionable, clean aesthetic while still being comfortable. She’s probably around 30 and also has a love of colour and the unexpected. We have recently expanded into men’s leather goods with a new line called Mr Elk.

7. How do you make it easy for your online customers to buy from you?
Our online store is broken up into really clear categories so shoppers can easily find what they are looking for. We also have our full product line available online at any one time along with regular specials for Facebook fans, free-shipping promotions and beautiful gift wrapping options as so many of our customers purchase something for themselves as well as someone else.

8. Do you sell in person or in a physical store as well?
We have over 400 stockists in Australia and New Zealand as well as our own store in Preston, Melbourne Victoria. We also have dozens of stockists in the US, throughout Scandinavia and Japan.

9. List your current most popular products.
With Summer just off the ground there has been some huge stand outs:
Summer dresses
Cotton pants
Plate necklace
Italian sandals

10. What’s next for your online store?
We’ve just launched our summer range called ‘without sound’, so that’s been pretty big and certainly keeping us busy. We’re also working on our blog to update it more regularly so that we can give our customers an insight into the Elk world. We are also working on a multi-currency function as well as a Google Map service where customers anywhere in the world can find their closest Elk stockist by simply entering their postcode into the map.

Styling You’s top 3

1. Chunky wood necklace, $45  | 2. Embroidered hat, $45 |3. Snakeskin sandals, $135

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 Elk in accordance with our Disclosure Policy