Tuesday 25th August 2009

Trading Online Beginners Guide

When: 6:30pm Tuesday 25th August

Where: The Circle Club, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BB

RSVP: £8 Bookable online - Click 'Reserve your place' or email rsvp@manchesterfashion.com with your name, company, and position.

By now everybody should know that simply having an online presence will not guarantee sales or coverage. However, are online transactional sites the way forward? Although the press publish many success stories of online stores embracing great growth, 'e-tailing' is still in relatively un-chartered waters and almost all of us, the big, the small, the medium and even the regulators are still learning day by day.

Join in as we discuss the nuts and bolts of online trading, and how to get it right! This is an ideal opportunity to pick up tips, network and learn something useful about selling online.

Guest Panel:

• Paul Rouke - Usability and E-commerce Specialist – PRWD. Paul has worked in the e-commerce sector for over 10 years, including 7 years at Shop Direct Group from the start of their move into online retailing in 1999. Paul specialises in helping retailers improve the user experience of their e-commerce site to increase average order value, on-site conversion rate and customer retention levels.

• CJ Brough - Director of PR & Marketing agency BluntCommunications.com and founder of BragItUp.com CJ was lucky enough to leave University and hit London at the same time as the dot com boom and then bust. Hands on experience with some of today’s iconic websites, such as lastminute and eBay, has given her invaluable insight into how to get an online business off the starting blocks.

• Christina Barratt – Director – Moonsparkonline.co.uk Moonsparkonline was successfully launched in November 2008 by Christina Barratt who created the web boutique to offer females the chance to purchase trend-driven items from top quality inspirational labels at affordable prices, as well as offering excellent customer care and personal styling advice upon request. Since then Moonspark has received great press acclaim and recommendations from national fashion editors as well as building on their ever-increasing base of returning customers.

• Robert Lye - Associate, Intellectual Property, Commerce & Technology department - Halliwells LLP Robert advises on both contentious and non-contentious matters across the spectrum of intellectual property law, in which he has practised since 2000.  In the online field he regularly advises on copyright and trade mark infringement issues, defamatory content, "cyber squatting", domain name strategy, ownership of website content as well as advising on e-commerce practice generally.

Areas covered:

·         The benefits of e-commerce

·         First steps to making it happen

·         Marketing your website

·         Financial questions

·         Legal issues

·         Top tips from our industry panel

·         Plus questions from the audience

Supported by:

The Circle Club – www.thecircleclub.com

Damaged Jeans - www.damagedjeansbrand.com

Amethyst - www.amethystgroup.co.uk/fashionandbeauty

Reserve your place