Monsoon will be closing down its women’s clothing store in Sliema as part of a shift to a personalised approach to shopping to give customers a better, more convenient experience.

The move follows the launch of an online platform earlier this year for all three related brands: Monsoon Ladies, Monsoon Children and Accessorize.

Accessorize and Monsoon Children stores will not be affected by the closure. 

Jackie Urpani, the brands’ local co-owner and co-director, believes this move will result in a “better, more convenient service” for customers.

“The success of our e-commerce site helped us realise that Monsoon Ladies as a product lends itself excellently to the online platform, because each item is viewed individually on screen and the particular qualities of the garment do not get lost in a rail of other items.”

She mentions customers’ frequent comments about the difficulty of properly seeing the items in the store. “However, whenever we had a fashion show and the clothes were showcased on a catwalk, we always had a fantastic response.”

“Online has a similar effect,” she continues, “because each item is viewed individually on screen and the particular qualities of the garment do not get lost in a rail of other items.”

Speaking about the strategic decision, taken many years ago, to only have one Monsoon Ladies store, Ms Urpani says that the company had felt it was important not to flood the market with too much of the same item.

“Monsoon clothing often focuses on prints, colour and embroidery, which can make it quite distinct and special. Malta is small, so we were happy to only stock a few of each piece to avoid people turning up at a wedding or event in the same outfit,” noting that this was greatly appreciated by customers.

That single store will now be closing down, with Sliema’s sliding attractiveness playing a role.

“Sliema has suffered as a location because of building and overdevelopment, traffic, lack of parking, and many other issues. Rental and store running costs have also continued to rise. On top of that there has been the birth of the online shopping phenomenon.”

Most recently, Ms Urpani says that COVID-19 “came along and changed everything. People avoided going out to shop, and events and parties all but stopped altogether.”

“When weighing up all the factors,” she continues, “it made much more commercial sense to move from brick and mortar to online and adapt to an ever-changing world by focusing more on a personalised shopping experience.”

“Costs are saved and the customer ends up getting a better, more convenient service,” she says.

There are exciting projects coming up too: “We will also be introducing personal shopping for people who prefer to physically see and try on items before purchasing. This will be by appointment in our new mock shop within our warehouse space.”

“There, customers can view the collection in peace and quiet, and get the customer service they have become accustomed to in a shop environment. We are also exploring personal shopping where we would deliver hand-picked items to customers to try on in the comfort of their own homes."

“We have not discounted the possibility of opening another bricks and mortar store in the future, perhaps in a different location altogether. But we are taking this time to monitor the challenges the retail world is facing, the needs and preferences of our customers and the best way forward,” she concluded.