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Possen.com
Cut Out for the Part
Bizz, 25 October 2000
| Name of the company: Possen.com
Activity: marketing made-to-fit clothes
Established in: 1999
Start-up capital: 1 million guilders
Objective: several establishments in the Benelux, Germany and England
Website: www.possen.com
Possen.com has a world scoop. A body scanner that makes three-dimensional images stands in the back part of the Possen store in the Van Baerlestreet in Amsterdam. Clients that wish a made-to-fit costume take place on a duckboard, a laser beam will then record their body contours from head to toe from four different angles. This data will then be forwarded to an atelier in Germany. The made-to-fit costume will be delivered to the client within' three weeks.
Since the opening of the store in May of this year, initiator Bas Possen sold already 500 made-to-fit costumes (prices vary from 850 guilders to 2.250 guilders), practically without any advertising campaign. Bigger activities are on the list of "things-to-do". Possen is busy financing several establishments, also in Belgium, England and Germany. Furthermore a special Possen.com truck drives through the country to take the sizes of potential clients that reside outside of the capital city.
Factors for success
Click and mortar, that is a combination of Internet and a real store. To buy the first suit the client will need to visit the shop once or twice after which his sizes will be entered into a database. This makes it possible to order a made-to-fit suit on the Internet, no matter in which part of the world the client is. Possen: "With made-to-fit clothes you can not only rely on the computer. It does make a difference whether someone wears his pants high or under the tummy. A competent salesman should note such accents and should be able to give a client good advice. The contact with people is essential. You can shake hands with a client, look him in the eyes and let him feel the material. No database can go up against this."
Bumpy road
The evolution on the Internet is extremely fast. A world scoop today, might be outdated tomorrow. There is a lot of copying in the new economy. The bigger chains will - if Possen.com turns out to be a success - not come to a standstill. The fashion store Hout Brox is already working with the two-dimensional scanner.
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