Anita helps with getting dolled up

A new internet-based retail venture by Kilcullen businesswoman Anita Whyte offers women and men an easy way to buy cosmetics and personal grooming products, writes Brian Byrne.

Dolledup.ie is Anita’s second internet project, and came about from talking to receptionists when she was building up her Office Genie web-catalogue stationery business.

“We’d have conversations about beauty products and accessories, and it just struck me that the internet was a way I could provide them with a wide range of products, and they could browse and buy 24/7."

An initial website set up last year showed that the idea was right, but it needed a more comprehensive approach. A revamp of the site in June did the trick and since then the business has properly taken off.

Research at trade shows and watching what products were popular was a key part of building the enterprise, but very quickly Anita and her partner Paul Moran found there were further possibilities.

“I met with a stylist who offers hair care tips online, and then a skin care specialist who also gives advice, and incorporated these into the package. And we’re shortly launching a directory element, where women can find out, for instance, what hairdressers are in an area where they might be going to a wedding or other family event.”

A special ’New Year, New You’ campaign is planned from January that will offer hairstyle and makeup prizes, a spa break, and a photoshoot.

As it is with Office Genie, the key to making this kind of internet-based business work is providing a top-class service, with reliable deliveries. Dolledup.ie has customers all over the country, and anything ordered will arrive within 3-5 days. With Christmas coming up, the concept takes all the hard work out of a lot of Christmas shopping.

“We’ll gift-wrap, and deliver to somebody’s office or other place of work, and they can then take them home ready for giving as presents. There’s no need to get in the car, drive to town, pay for parking and go from shop to shop until you find what you want.”

And if you want to gently prod the significant other in your life as to what you’d really like, Dolledup.ie also has a ’wish list’ feature where somebody browsing through the catalogue can build up a personal list of favourite products.

“It’s then just a matter of emailing that list and links to whoever wants to buy you a present and all the hard work is taken care of.”

This article was first published on the Kilcullen Page of the Kildare Nationalist.