When one thinks of cutting-edge retail, Canada's trusty old mail carrier service doesn't easily come to mind. (Do you even remember the last time you bought stamps?)
It's not just anecdotal, the sense that we're relying on Canada Post less than ever—in 2011 the services registered its first annual loss in 16 years, ending up more than $250 million
in the red. As with many older institutions, Canada Post is trying to navigate the digital era, and figure out how it can sustain itself through these changing times.
One initiative: a new emphasis on retail services—that is, on helping retailers do their business. To mark some new successes in that field, last week Canada Post gave out its first ever E-commerce Innovation awards, to several Canadian retailers that "excel at giving Canadians what they value most in the online shopping experience." Among those winners: Toronto-based
Rent frock Repeat, which will receive $10,000 in free shipping services, $20,000 in free marketing services and a Canada Post delivery truck wrapped with promotional information about their business. (A total of $1 million in prizes were awarded to five companies.)
"We're an online retailer that rents dresses instead of selling them," explans co-founder and CEO Lisa Delorme, who started the business with a friend in May 2011. They were both invited to a wedding, didn't want to spend money on dresses "that might only come out of the closet once or twice." They came across a dress-rental company in the United States, but were quickly frustrated to learn that they didn't deliver to Canada. "We were tired of waiting for someone else to do it" locally, says Delorme, and so the two friends decided to start their own company here.
Like so many of us, Delorme also didn't consider Canada Post to be particularly innovative in the retail space. The awards, however, seem to mark a real attempt to take innovation more seriously—she was surprised at how well-produced the awards night was.
"I give them kudos that they're recognizing that there's a birth of online retailers," she says. "They see it as the future of Canada Post as well, so I think it's a kind of rebirth for them as well."
As for Rent frock Repeat, their current staff complement of three can't keep up with orders. Delorme says they will "definitely will be hiring" in the near future, likely including a director of technology as well as stylists and marketing staff.
Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Lisa Delorme, Co-Founder and CEO, Rent frock Repeat