Gazette Business
Sarah bags herself a niche in laptop market
12:00pm Monday 30th January 2012
LAPTOP and mobile device cases, covers, and bags that take their inspiration from the catwalk are available through a new Basingstoke-based online business.
RightBag has been set up by Sarah Evans, at her Hatch Warren home, after she struggled to find stylish, practical and feminine laptop bags.
“Often they were large and bulky black bags,” explained Sarah, who through her rightbag.co.uk business is able to offer an impressive range of eye-catching, colourful and stylish bags and covers for devices such as laptops, iPhones, iPads, netbooks and Kindles.
She found the choice for women was limited in the High Street, and felt that it was even more male-orientated online.
Sarah said: “There were plenty of online stores offering cases for men, but women use laptops just as much and there didn’t seem to be much choice.”
The business is aimed at women aged between 18 and 40, but she has found that a lot of teenagers, including lads, have been impressed with some of the funky designs on offer.
Black designs are not excluded too, such as the Knomo Slim laptop bag, as used by Pippa Middleton.
“That’s one of my best sellers,” said Sarah.
The busy mother-of-two, who previously worked for small business sales at Barclays Mercantile, launched her business venture in late October after several months researching the market.
“It was just in time for the Christmas market,” said Sarah who was pleased with her December sales. “I wanted to hit the road running but at the same time didn’t want to set myself unrealistic targets.”
Careful not to tie up too much capital in stock while she tested the market, Sarah explained: “I know what I like and I can only guess what other people like.
“So I tested the market with a limited collection of products and I am hoping to expand the line this year. Fortunately, I have some good suppliers who offer next day delivery.”
Initially, focusing on the domestic market, Sarah has been delighted to also pick up sales from Canada, USA, France and Spain. Her easy to use website was designed by local agency, theESCAPE.