Henri Lloyd reborn digital: goes all in on e-commerce

British heritage sailing and lifestyle brand, Henri Lloyd, was purchased by Aligro Group in 2018. The brand has since then gone through a digital transformation. The brand is now back on the market with a new strategy, design and new digital focus where their e‑commerce branch plays a central role.

Henri Lloyd will now become a “digital first” brand. The flagship stores in the UK will still be running, but 80% of the physical retail branch has been cut. Instead, they are investing heavily in strengthening their own digital channels by launching their own online flagship store that is built on fashion and lifestyle geared ecommerce platform Centra. The store just went online and is ready for a global, multi‑channel operation from the get‑go.

“Henri Lloyd is a classic brand that most people have some sort of relationship or emotional connection with. Weather it's through their functional sailing gear worn at sea, or lifestyle garments worn in urban environments. We saw a great opportunity for improvement as the brand was lagging in their digitalization. The logo has been redesigned, but we’ve preserved the core values that the brand is known and loved for. Most importantly, we’ve transformed the company to become a strong digital player that will make Henri Lloyd accessible to customers all over the world through our own online flagship store, powered by our platform partner Centra,” Says CEO, Magnus Liljeblad.

The transition from physical to digital is part of our strategy to reposition Henri Lloyd as a premium brand. The brand will still be available in the physical retail space, but only through a few strategically hand‑picked retailers (besides their own flagship stores). Sales to these channels will be controlled through a digital showroom which will give Henri Lloyd full control over distribution in both their Direct‑to‑Consumer and Business‑to‑Supplier channels.

“We still see great value in being present in physical retail. But need to be much more selective of where we are displayed to maintain the qualities and values of a premium brand. Our new strategy focuses on just that; physical accessibility through strategic retailers, and global accessibility through our online flagship store. We are very confident that we will re‑establish Henri Lloyd as the world’s best producer of functional and sustainable sailing and lifestyle gear,” continues CEO, Magnus Liljeblad.

Henri Lloyd is will be re‑launching their new collections globally all through 2019. A few garments from their new collection are already available at henrilloyd.com.