Page 20 - November 2020

Empowering and

Inspiring Women What is clear is that in within their development strategy “It is this Swedish heritage, it is the quality, the sustainability

is the goal to become even more of a global player as it is
engrained in their DNA to do so, whether this is through and the Nordic touches in the product that has helped drive
the business forward and allowed us to enjoy some success
their own stores, through franchise agreements or through over the years and what will hopefully allow this to continue.
Founded in Alingsås in 1954, Lindex today is an digital channels. Of course, none of this would be possible without the team
Maintaining its presence across multiple international behind us. They stand strong with the brand and throughout
international fashion company that has its head office markets, the brand has continued to innovate in new ways, all the difficult changes and adjustments in recent months, they
and one of these more recent avenues has been through have come through this in a really fantastic way and they have
in Gothenburg, Sweden. In this interview RLI speaks collaborating with ASOS. Launching with them over two been so engaged and dedicated throughout and for that I’m
with CEO Susanne Ehnbåge about how the business has years ago, they have become the number one lingerie brand truly, truly grateful,” concludes Ehnbåge
with ASOS which has allowed them to gain new insights with
maintained its market position in difficult times and how customers that Lindex did not have previously.
“In the UK we currently have two stores, but our
it is continuing to look to the future. collaboration with ASOS has allowed us to gain inroads with
another kind of customer we were not accessing through
our physical spaces. This insight has led us to broaden our
assortment, so we have added products for a younger
eginning life as a lingerie company, Lindex has grown pandemic, we have had to pour all our resources into daily customer group than we would normally have done and this
in the past 66 years to become a worldwide brand operations,” explains Susanne Ehnbåge, CEO of Lindex. has been really successful,” Ehnbåge comments.
that now operates 460 stores in 18 countries. In More flexibility has been introduced into the way the For Lindex, the main customer is the woman and for them
Baddition the business has 39 franchised stores company works and Ehnbåge believes this is something that she is everything. The company has always had a woman’s
which are located across nine different markets. needs to remain during and after the fallout of Covid-19. “I perspective and always put their needs first in everything
In terms of online availability, the brand is available in 33 believe now more than ever that information and transparency that they do, it is in their heritage and it has been this way
markets and they work with external partners such as ASOS, are key and that we must work in a more cross-functional way since the beginning. It is this understanding and unwavering
Zalando, Nelly and Boozt as well as having a presence in China than we have in the past. We do not want to have solo thinking commitment to putting the female first that Ehnbåge believes
through Tmall. where each department works on its own objectives, instead has kept customers coming back to the stores and remaining
To help minimise the effects and reduce the consequences we want everyone to come together to do what is best for loyal over the years and in times such as these.
that Covid-19 has had on operations, the main focus for Lindex the business and we have certainly done that this year.” With the uncertainty that still surrounds the retail sector,
during the past few months has been on its daily operations Despite the ongoing crisis, the business has continued Ehnbåge believes that everyone has really opened their eyes
and in securing their profitability. to expand with the opening of two new stores in the last and that this needs to remain the case for everything that
“As will have been the case with most companies, we quarter, with locations successfully opening in Lithuania and could and will happen in the future. She feels that for Lindex
went from one focus one day to then completely changing Iceland. In terms of expansion in the future, the company is the long-term target stays the same, but the path to reach it
everything the next. While we had long-term strategies that being more conservative such is the ever-changing nature of may look and be completely different to what it was just a few
we were working on, because of the impact of this global the Covid-19 virus. months ago.

20 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2020