Sisters use social media to sell apparel, jewelry online

ATLANTIC CITY - What to do when you have barely $100 to your name and a retail dream you can't let go of?

Two sisters, Lisa Muratore, 30, and Jaime Hannigan, 31 - neither of whom had worked in retail before - are riding the social media wave.

They are using online to grow their business that started from Muratore's car trunk nearly a decade ago, and now has grown to three stores near the Jersey Shore.

They started White Lotus, a women's apparel, accessories and jewelry retailer in Sea Isle City, in 2010. Three years later, they opened another store on the second level of the Pier Shops at Caesars - now the Playground - in Atlantic City. A third White Lotus, also at the Playground, opened last week, selling home decor, jewelry and gifts.

The pair have relied on social media since the first store opened. For sales and promotions, the sisters hold some sort of sale every day to enhance business since they serve a transient and vacationing clientele.

"For our regulars and e-mail customers, we do at least two to three big sales a month, such as a semiannual, 50 percent off the entire store sale," Hannigan said. "That is also open to the public if they happen to be shopping and come in.

"Before, you waited for customers to come to you," said Hannigan, the computer whiz of the partnership. Muratore is the designer with a flair for clothes. "Now, you have to bring your own customers."

The sisters use an e-mail marketing program, called MailChimp, which enables Hannigan to insert Photoshopped promotions with pictures of new merchandise arrivals. They collect e-mails using a loyalty program called Lotus Royals. Customers get $5 toward their next purchase for signing up, plus $1 for every $25 they spend. The e-mail list now has almost 3,500 people.

They also do direct e-mail. "We use Square [a processor] for credit cards, which links to our pod and customers, and shows us how many customers are returning based on analytics," Hannigan said. They have a 50 percent to 60 percent return customer rate.

The best times to post? "Between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., when people are just getting home from work or in rush hour traffic carpooling," Hannigan said.

She said Facebook and Instagram were better than Twitter for sales. The duo also uses Pinterest. Among their best sellers in stores and online at www.shopwhitelotus.com are their clothing and handmade crystal jewelry.

"It's really hard to find something like what they sell in South Jersey that's also affordable," said longtime customer Courtney McGovern, 23, of Brigantine, a retail manager at a local mall.

The sisters, who never took out loans to start their business, are among a growing group of smaller retailers who are attracting customers by using the Web.

Essentially, online is providing all the things that print advertising once did, including the Yellow Pages, fliers, posters, placement ads and newspaper circulars, said Laurie Ehlbeck, New Jersey state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The New Jersey nonprofit represents about 10,000 members, most of whom have 10 or fewer employees.

Ehlbeck's key online tips to members: Use Facebook to give customers more information about your business; use Google Voice to get better rankings for your business through the search engine; use Twitter to introduce new products or services; be present on social media in a positive way.

"Certainly, more of my members are realizing they get more bang for the buck through a Tweet, Facebook page, or YouTube videos," Ehlbeck said.

In a survey of 71 national online retailers in the State of Retailing Online 2015 report, nearly 75 percent said eCommerce sales in 2014 were at least 10 percent more than in 2013. On average, sales by smartphones grew 87 percent in 2014 over 2013, and sales by tablets grew 52 percent, according to the report sponsored by the National Retail Federation.

"The challenge, really, for the industry is figuring out how much a Facebook 'like' means to your bottom line," said retail analyst Garrick Brown of the real estate consulting firm DTZ. "No one knows that for sure, and that's why nearly every major retailer has been investing in building their social media presence, hiring social media experts, and building social media strategies."

Smaller fish such as White Lotus are no exception. It plans to hire a full-time Web manager in the fall, Hannigan said.

Its doubling down - putting two stores in the Playground - would seem to carry some risk. A lack of foot traffic has been the former Pier's downfall.

The troubled mall defaulted on its mortgage and was resold in a foreclosure auction in late 2011. It went through a series of managers and was on the brink when Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein took over the lease from Caesars Entertainment Inc., earlier this year.

"People thought we were crazy for opening a store here," Muratore said.

But unlike several of the other shops there, White Lotus thrived. Blatstein, who is investing $50 million to redo the mall, offered them coveted space to open a second venue on the revamped first floor - which was to debut to the public on Friday - next to It'Sugar Candy Store.

"They stuck it out during the hard times," Blatstein texted on why he gave the two the spot.

Muratore, who is into Buddhist teachings, likens the unconventional journey she and Hannigan have taken to their namesake flower, which represents growth and achievement.

"The White Lotus grows in real muddy water, but somehow emerges unharmed and becomes this beautiful flower," she said. "The same could be said of us.

"No one thought we'd ever get this far."