Universal Works

Founded in 2009 by David Keyte and his partner Stephanie Porritt, Universal Works aims to make real, honest clothing based on fit and good design, though never overdesigned. That hand-crafted, high-quality approach led the independent brand to critical acclaim over its first decade. In October 2020, Mat Brown joined to take their e-commerce operation to the next level as the new Head of e-commerce.

When I joined, we had no Ecom specialists in place. We had initially been a wholesale business then physical retail grew, and e-commerce became a natural add-on. When I joined, it was a basic Shopify out-of-the-box operation. There were no add-ons or plugins. There was no tech stack to speak of, to the extent that we were even hand-typing labels to customers. It's been an evolution, not a revolution.

Knowing e-commerce was an area of growth for the brand; Mat realized the need to move away from a manual, labor-intensive returns process.  

Previously, we handled returns without a platform. We printed prepaid labels, which we inserted in every parcel for our domestic customers. International customers had to fend for themselves. We'd guide them, but returning was expensive and complicated. It put a lot of onus on the customer to do a lot of work themselves, and in the U.K., We'd print out a lot of labels that just ended up in the bin. It was wasteful.

We ideally wanted a digital, paperless solution that could make it easier for our domestic and international customers to do returns. That’s when we became aware of Swap.

There are few things more powerful than word of mouth – Drake’s referred Universal Works to Swap.

We came to Swap on a recommendation—in my small Whatsapp group of E-Commerce leaders, we often recommend good tools. Ben Phillips, Head of E-Commerce at Drake’s, said Swap could be a great fit. From there, it was plain sailing.

Universal Works wanted a solution that fit their goals, which meant putting CLV over minimizing returns.  

A lot of clothing retailers want to reduce returns. For us, it was slightly different in that. We're not trying to encourage returns, but our clothing is not a conventional fit. Much of our range is loose-fitting, and, there are plenty of boxy silhouettes. It's different from the typical thing you would find on the High Street, so it can be challenging to find the right size for you, and some people prefer to upsize or down because of how we design. We appreciate our product's challenges and want to ensure that our customer gets the correct size.

The return service had to be easy for our customers to use. We see it as a conversion-assisting tool because we want them to find the right size.

You can’t put a price on a positive returns experience for customers. More than 80 percent of customers would return to a brand if they had a positive return experience.

We're okay with that return coming back because then we know they'll end up with a product they're happy with. Our returning customer rate is excellent. We'll gamble on the fact that once we've got it on their back, they'll come back for more.

When you put a solution in place, it also helps you better forecast expected return rates.

At this point, we know it will be a set percentage. Since joining Swap, our returns have levelled off without using the instant credit feature, which we may enable later in the year. We started with the core product, and we've been thrilled with how that's made it easier internally and for the customer.

The efficiencies go beyond the customer journey. Your internal team will love the time and cost savings.

The improvement in efficiency in processing refunds has been significant. When a return hits our warehouse, we aim to process and refund it the same day. There’s no delay.

But before Swap, it was a Google Sheet. To process the parcel, you’d have to open it, inspect it, and log it in a Google Sheet. Then, that operative would move to a sit-down desk to process the refunds. It took much more time. With Swap, it’s much smoother—there are very few clicks to process the refund.

With Swap, there’s always a new iteration or product in the works, which customers realize is our standard.

Whenever I log into Swap, it has better UX or a new product. It shows that it is an evolving product. I was demoing Swap to another business the other day, and he's like, what does that even look like?

I showed him from the customer's point of view. Then again, I said oh, my goodness, this is so much prettier and aesthetically pleasing since the last time I logged on! Today, I logged on and noticed a lot of features, so it's cool to see that we can evolve and grow alongside you.

Beyond the app, Swap’s team actually gives a sh** about your business.

When I first brought up Swap internally, everyone said, “slow down,” given the pace of change we typically go at. I had to bring the team along on the journey for all these new tools.

I told Jack, Director of Customer Success, that there would be a small army with me. I remember that on our side of the call, two rows of people were around the screen. Jack answered every question on the call. Even in the early days, there were a lot of emails to him, all of which he always took the time to field. To his credit, no matter what day or time it is, he always responds –we get emails at half past ten at night on a Sunday, and he's like, so sorry. And you're like, Oh, my God! The fact that you even bothered. So you know, I think that's great.

Swap x UW has been partners for a year and has many years ahead to grow together.

We’ve hit 12 months with Swap and no one has forgotten about us or handed us off. That matters to us. We have Jack and Jean. Everyone is on first-name terms. Swap’s team has always been responsive, which is massive for us to have that peer-to-peer contact relationship as a growing partner. That’s something we value above cost because above all else we’re a people business.