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Overseas sales bloom for perfumery

International appeal: Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone, Lili Bermuda’s owner, said online sales had now passed the 30 per cent mark for the St George’s business (File photograph by Akil Simmons)

A Bermuda perfumery is enjoying the sweet smell of success on an international level.

Lili Bermuda has passed the 30 per cent mark for online sales — and plans to boost that figure in the future.

Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone, owner of the St George’s-based firm, said: “We are the largest e-commerce operation in Bermuda by far.

“Last year e-commerce was 30 per cent of our sales and we are hoping to make that grow.”

Sales are strong across the US, as well as Europe, with orders for the company’s range of perfumes also coming in from as far afield as Asia and the Middle East.

Ms Ramsay-Brackstone said: “The biggest markets are where visitors to Bermuda come from — the US north east and we’re quite big in Miami and Texas.

“We’re also quite good in California and last December we shipped more than 800 parcels.

“That gives people an idea of the levels. We are very, very large, even by US standards.”

Ms Ramsay-Brackstone, who bought the then-ailing perfume business in 2003, added a new partnership with courier firm DHL had helped fuel the overseas sales boom.

She said: “It really has allowed us to propel our e-commerce business to a complete new level. We’re very happy about that.”

Ms Ramsay-Brackstone said that perfume, due to its alcohol content and low flashpoint, was now classified as a hazardous substance and its transport had become more difficult.

But she said DHL had sent one of their own experts to help staff gain dangerous goods approval.

Ms Ramsay-Brackstone added: “We redesigned our website in January and we went through complete integration between our system and DHL’s platform. Now we use them exclusively.

“It’s a huge investment on our part — the whole infrastructure of doing a new website and integration, it was a lot of money — a really fancy car.”

She added advantages of the DHL deal was pick up of goods, overnight shipping and a hi-tech package tracking system.

Ms Ramsay-Brackstone said: “They offer really great customer service, which is very important when you’re in the luxury goods business.

“When you’re buying things running into the hundreds of dollars, there is a big trust thing coming into place.”

And she added that DHL’s reliability and fast delivery had allowed Lili Bermuda to run advertising campaigns in key markets and for big events like Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day.

Ms Ramsay-Brackstone, a trained accountant, added: “It’s boosting our sales and taking the business to new levels.”