birdsnest.com.au, a brand that was born three years ago just down the road in Cooma, has quickly become one of Australia’s most popular online retail stores. Its emphasis on providing great customer service (think a personalised note with your package saying “You look great in your jacket!”) sets it apart from a lot of players in the online fashion world.

It all began when a young e-Commerce consultant, Jane Cay (at right), fell in love with a farmer and despite a complete tree-change, held onto her dream of being part of the online shopping revolution taking place in Australia.

Launching first into the traditional retail market, Jane bought and transformed a women’s fashion store in Cooma.

“I quickly learnt that I was not just in the rag trade,” says Jane “helping women in the store showed me that the right shopping experience had the power to make women feel fantastic, the old saying is true – retail really is therapeutic.”

This revelation developed into an obsession with styling, how women like to shop and theories in dressing for your body shape. The birdsnest philosophy was hatched, ‘it is all about making the most of your best assets, the result of looking your best is feeling your best’, said Jane.

The dream became to create a world-class online clothing store that embraced this concept, offered personalised service, stocked all the best brands, was attainable, friendly and had a sense of fun.

Birdsnest is proof that a being a small player based in a rural location is not an obstacle to online success and challenging the status quo.

Despite launching at the height of the global financial crisis, growth has exceeded expectations – Birdsnest is now in the top 50 most visited apparel sites in Australia achieving traffic equivalent to well known brands such as Country Road, Just Jeans and Pandora.

The Birdsnest girls talk to women about their wardrobe dilemmas on a daily basis and all of this chirping about style led them to design and launch Australia’s first online personalised styling guide. 

‘We’ve just launched this concept to our customers and in the first week over 6,000 women created their personalised Style Guide’, says Birdsnest owner Jane Cay, ‘and the feedback has been amazing – we’re delighted.’

Birdsnest have taken their general styling advice to a whole new level, personalising it for the individual and launching a complete ‘me’ section on their website. Women can now go online and create their own free style profile, selecting their body shape, favourite colours, and even personality type. A few minutes later their personalised style guide is delivered straight into their Inbox!

Style recommendations are updated on a daily basis or whenever a customer changes their style profile. Every single item on the website is rated against their individual requirements so only the best matches are put forward.

‘Starting from a very small base in regional Australia, we have always aimed to maintain a very personal relationship with our customers. While we are sure that this level of personalisation is the future for all retail, I haven’t seen this concept anywhere in the world. I believe it is a first for online retailing and will greatly enhance the shopping experience for our customers. After all, shopping should be therapeutic!’

If you’d like to get your own personalised styling guide (and support local business at the same time), pop over to Birdsnest and have a play…it’s good fun! Or drop in to the shop the next time you’re in Cooma…

And if you’re particularly interested in finding out what new season trends suit YOUR shape, stay tuned over the next few weeks for our fashion series featuring stylist Annie Brown – she’ll be revealing the best styles for pears, apples, and the rest of the fruity bunch!