California Apparel News

Executives at Los Angeles–based OneStop Internet Inc. have found that their formula of providing third-party e-commerce and fulfillment services under one platform has been a good fit for the current marketplace.

The company has tripled its growth over the last year and has signed high-profile accounts such as 7 for All Mankind, Miss Sixty/Energie, Oliver Peoples, Dickies Girl, Trina Turk and Sigrid Olsen. Existing clients include True Religion, C&C California and Paige Premium Denim.

OneStop Internet provides a full menu of e-commerce services from Web site hosting to design, customer service, ship and pack, marketing, and analytics. Clients pay no upfront costs; instead, OneStop participates in revenue sharing.

That business approach is getting more popular with apparel brands because it requires little risk with no upfront cost. It also provides motivation for the e-commerce provider to keep coming up with new ideas to convert browsers into buyers, said principal John Tomich.

The company now has about 50 employees. It recently hired Michael Africa, the former director of e-commerce at Guess? Inc., as vice president of marketing. It also is in the midst of expanding its 100,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Los Angeles with new offices and additional storage and shipping docks.

“We are trying to expand our infrastructure to support larger clients,” Tomich said, “but at the same time, we’re trying to maintain the culture we have here to where we can provide world-class customer service.”

OneStop is among the few e-commerce companies that provide domestic and international warehousing. It struck a deal with DHL Worldwide in Germany to conduct fulfillment for the European market.

Aside from logistics, the company also has been working on its analytics software, which tracks consumer behavior and movements during their online navigation.

“We can determine what the hot styles, colors and sizes are—and more,” said Tomich, who added that the information helps in email campaigns and other marketing vehicles.

Such data also have proved to contribute to improving “conversion rates,” meaning the rate at which browsers turn into buyers. The industry average is between 1 percent and 5 percent. Tomich said the company had developed certain navigation tools that have helped to triple conversion rates for some of its clients. He declined to elaborate on the technologies because of pending patents.

OneStop also has been working on integrating clicks-and-mortar with bricks-and-mortar businesses. For example, sales associates can access company inventory through OneStop and sell merchandise allotted for online sales at a physical store. To top it off, the salespeople can still collect commissions. The company also has helped its clients develop seamless gift cards that are accepted at physical stores as well as online.

Tomich said growth had come through focusing on creativity and service. “None of our clients’ Web sites look the same,” he said. “We don’t employ a cookie-cutter mentality here.”

For more information, visit www.one stop.com or e-mail info@onestop.com.

Fila Teams With Counterpoint for Royalty Tracking

Los Angeles–based Counterpoint Systems, which provides software for the licensing business, has signed on Fila to use its Pelican Pro- Files suite. Fila specifically will be using the contract management system within Pelican to track royalty contracts between the company and its licensees.

Fila’s chief financial officer, Jeff Howald, said the company was looking for a product that could provide lots of details to track royalties, as well as to fulfill other immediate and long-term needs.

Fila manufactures apparel and sports products in eight categories, and has a sports heritage that started in 1911 in Biella, Italy. Its U.S. operations are based in New York and Sparks, Md.

Founded in 1987, Counterpoint Systems works with music publishers and film production companies and is expanding its business into apparel and other distribution channels.

For more information, visit www.counterp.com.