Shehla Rashid runs a local, formalwear shop called Noor Couture in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Starting back in 2012, Noor Couture caters mainly to Newcastle’s growing South Asian community; providing beautiful and elaborate dress pieces for men and women, and for every occasion. Frustrated with the lack of chic yet modest clothing available in the area, Shehla started designing her own clothes which were a huge success and resulted in the launching of her own brand. Working with a tailor with over forty years of experience, Noor Couture became a huge success!

In March of 2020 however her business plan had to change, and it needed to do so fast! A new and relatively unknown virus had been discovered, and the UK government proposed a total lockdown; closing all non-essential businesses across the country to prevent it’s spread. This was catastrophic for many small business owners; many stores like Shehla’s didn’t have an online platform to reach their customers, so they had to close business or adapt.

With no alternative way to reach her loyal customer base, Shehla reached out to us at Uptivity Apps at the beginning of lockdown to find a quick, simple, yet affordable solution. We proposed that she use our newest app package, Just Sell, to help her open up an e-commerce shop for her to sell the tailored garments from.

 

With Just Sell, we were able to open an online store for Shehla and make her bespoke seller’s and selling apps for herself and her customers to use which are available on the App Store. This meant she could finally get back to business and continue to sell her pieces despite brick-and-mortar stores being closed. Within her webstore and apps, we were able to completely customise her online shopfront and content to her brand, ensuring that she had a consistent brand image. Data from her apps and webshop were also readily available, so that she could then tailor her products to the customer’s needs based on what they were looking at and buying.

As part of her Just Sell package, we were also able to provide Shehla with some of our additional operational management apps such as You Do, Stock Control, and Be Heard. This allowed her to not only sell online, but to also manage other aspects of her business such as supply chains and staff. On top of that, Shehla will also benefit from Uptivity’s social media management; with our in-house team of marketing specialists running the businesses social media pages. With the option of a Sales Representative app too, Shehla was set up to hire a sales rep when lockdown lifted; all of this done with the prospect of growth post-COVID in mind.

When we asked Shehla about her experience with Just Sell and Uptivity Apps she said:

“This [partnership] has really helped [us] boost sales, connect with our customers again, get back on our feet, and get back to work!”

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Shehla and look forward to continuing our growing working relationship with her as her business continues to grow. For more information on Uptivity Apps and how we can offer you better management and productivity solutions within your business, please visit www.uptivity.co.uk. For all of your South Asian occasion attire needs, head to www.noorcouture.co.uk/.