Bath & Body Works opened in Guayaquil. Valeria Barahona, ‘regional marketing specialist’ of the brand says that they consider a great opportunity to come to Ecuador.
Guayaquil was the city chosen by the renowned Bath & Body Works brand, of the David group, to open a new store that is now part of the 1,900 stores it has in the world. Located in the San Marino shopping center, it opened its doors yesterday with a wide range of body care products and fragrances for the home.
In the same place, the renowned brand of lingerie and fragrances Victoria’s Secret is scheduled to open in the remainder of the year. In addition to these two brands, the San Marino shopping center enlists the arrival of many other globally recognized stores in 2022.
The decision to start in Guayaquil would be linked to the fact that “the Guayaquil, the Ecuadorian likes the new, the international and the exclusive,” as explained by representatives of the brand in Ecuador.
Valeria Barahona, regional marketing specialist dThe brand was present at the opening and commented to this newspaper that they know that the brand is much loved in the country.
What motivated the David group to open a physical Bath & Body Works store in Ecuador?
One of the reasons we came to Ecuador is because of the demand here in the country. We know that it is a brand that is very loved by the local consumer for a long time, so we saw a great opportunity to be able to come to the country.
Why did you choose Guayaquil first?
We decided to start with Guayaquil because it is a more industrialized city than Quito; We wanted it to be the first store here to be able to taste the Ecuadorian market. And we have already confirmed expansion plans for next year for the city of Quito.
How is the product portfolio of the brand for Ecuador composed?
Bath & Body Works has many products, both for body care (creams, shower gel, mist and exfoliants) and for the home (candles three wicks, candles one wick and wildflowers). The number of products we offer varies depending on the season or launch. Now at our opening we are launching our entire offer of products for Christmas, we have many options of multiple products, fragrances for all tastes. We invite you to come to the place to enjoy the fragrances and take advantage of the offers.
How are you handling the importation of Bath & Body Works products?
We have handled it smoothly thus far. Our import is direct with the company on behalf of Ecuador Brands. It comes from the David group to Ecuador Brands, we have no intermediaries.
Will they have promotions for Black Friday and for December?
Yes we will have promotions, they will be a great surprise. We will have very special prices for Black Friday and we will also have great offers on Cyber Monday on our website https://www.bathandbodyworks.ec, which is already available here in Ecuador and is already one month old. There will be very important promotions on the weekends; They must be very attentive to our social networks to be able to know and take advantage of them.
The brand is one month after starting sales in its online store. How has this first month been?
At first it was a little slow, like any business online. Although it has greatly favored us that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer has become very accustomed to buying on websites; also the fact that the brand is very well known and that there was great expectation among the people for now being able to start acquiring the products. Sales were improving for the second and third weeks, when we launched very aggressive promotions, such as body care at $ 15, then a week of body care at $ 12. We have done very well. One of the best-selling products has been the three-wick candles.
How has the logistics been for the online sales channel?
We have an ally that is Serviantega: it is in charge of making the shipments nationwide. So I think they help us a lot and they complement the whole logistics part. Shipments are available only through the Bath and Body Works website. (I)
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