Half a year after shutting all its brick-and-mortar stores here, bath and body care retailer Crabtree & Evelyn is stepping up efforts to woo consumers in Singapore with a relaunched website, a refreshed look and new product lines.
It has revamped its website targeted at Singapore consumers and launched two new core product lines: Evelyn Rose, a rose-scented "beautifying" collection of face and body creams, and Crabtree, the brand's first genderless collection comprising face wash and bath products.
The brand also has a new identity. Under its new ethos "Born Curious, Grown Wild", the products feature minimalist packaging, a world apart from its previous floral aesthetic.
All 12 Crabtree & Evelyn stores in Singapore were closed earlier this year, as part of the retailer's switch to online-only operations worldwide, leaving just one physical flagship store in Islington, London.
In an e-mail interview with The Straits Times, chief executive officer of Crabtree & Evelyn David Stern said: "The traditional retail model has been changing everywhere in the world and, like all brands, we must evolve in order to grow. That's why in order to appeal to today's consumer, who spend much of their time shopping online, we wanted to evolve the brand to be digitally-led."
Singapore was included in the first wave of the worldwide relaunch - alongside Britain, United States, Australia, and Greater China - as "Singapore has long been one of our best markets, and we have many customers here", said Mr Stern.
Crabtree & Evelyn will also be testing concept stores such as pop-ups in key cities in the following months, he said, without naming the cities.
Its revamped Singapore website will go live on Sunday. The site was previously retailing the brand's former product ranges until it was made unavailable to shoppers last Wednesday.
Among the first products to be made available on the website are 12 new items priced from $15 for a 25ml hand cream to $118 for a 100ml fragrance.
To be launched in phases, other beauty products consumers can look forward to include exfoliators, masks, solid perfumes, cleansing balm, lip scrubs and facial mists. The genderless Crabtree collection also includes lifestyle items such as candles, diffusers and scented accessories, but these will launch only later in the year.
The products will be shipped from a central warehouse in Singapore.
One thing fans of the brand might miss is the limited-edition line of shortbread cookies. The rebranded Crabtree and Evelyn will no longer retail food - aside from tea, which will be in a new collection to be unveiled next year.
In the coming months, the website will be gradually customised based on what Singaporean customers like, said Mr Stern, adding that there are some special local packs planned for the holiday season this year.
