What My Radley Tote bags taught me about patience and well placed advertisements
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
There’s going to be a lot of shopping, talking, and toting in my future as conference season commences. Because of that, a new tote seemed in order. Now, I have a lot of bags, my husband would say too many bags, but I kind of shocked myself when I realized I didn’t have a professional work tote. I had been toting all of my stuff around in backpacks and, as you know, backpacks are not the best for quickly grabbing a business card, merch item, or raffle ticket at a conference! Most of them are also not the most business casual. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my bright pink Calpak Luka Backpack, but it has a time and a place.
Long story short, I needed a tote bag. The trouble was, what kind of tote bag did I want?
Phase 1: Searching brands I knew
I started by searching the products sold by our existing clients. I always try to see if I can accomplish a need with someone one of our clients makes. Unfortunately, while both State and CALPAK make fantastic totes, they didn't quite fit the bill - they were more travel oriented, less work oriented. I also wanted something classic but modern, and ideally, real leather.
From there I turned to some of the biggest tote brands around; like Beis, Away, Quince, etc. Again, they were all a bit casual and travel focused vs work focused. At one point I even turned to Strathberry! They make my favorite small purse (my fanciest purse) and they make a big version that is to die for. Unfortunately, I was not ready to spend $1000 on a tote that I would be bringing on planes and to conferences; it would end up getting quite a bit wear and tear.
Phase 2: Taking a break (and waiting for ads)
After my, slightly depressing, extensive search; I needed to take a break. I already spend all day looking at ecommerce sites (and shopping on them) so such an extensive search, only to not find what I wanted, was getting a bit fatiguing. I did what any experienced shopper does and knew that my beloved cookies would get the ad platforms to start serving me ads for totes. At first it was a game of retargeting. ALL of the ads I was getting were for Beis, Away, Quince, and Calpak. I already knew they didn't have what I wanted, so I waited… and waited a bit more.
Finally I started getting creator videos, I ALMOST bought a wrangler bag before feeling it was too casual, and I actually did get served a bag I really liked. The only issue is that I HATED the brand name. I don’t remember it at the moment, but it just didn’t feel professional. It felt a bit juvenile and I didn’t want that brand name stamped on my back.
Phase 3: Almost Giving Up
I nearly gave up… ME! I can’t think of another time when I truly needed something that I couldn’t find. That is when an innocent Instagram shopping ad caught my eye. It wasn't a story, it wasn't an influencer/creator. It was one of those promotion grids highlighting products. The brand? Radley London. And on top of that, they were having a sale (more on that later).
I followed the link and was immediately pleased to find:
The product link I clicked on actually took me to the product. Far too often these links go to collections or even the homepage and I am forced to hunt down the product; consider that an immediate bounce.
The products were well priced! Regular price ranged from $300-$600/bag, which was right in my budget!
They had a scotty dog (or miniature schnauzer) as their mascot! I LOVE them both and was happy to rock an icon on my bag.
From there it was actually pretty easy, they were having a great sale and I was able to get 2 bags for the price of 1! At first I was kidding myself and thought that I would pick the one I liked best and keep that. Spoiler alert, I kept both.
This is what I purchased:
The Pockets Icon tote is a bit more modern, casual and funky. Perfect for Shoptalk Vegas AND Shoptalk Barcelona since it is going to be HOT and, more importantly, VEGAS! The Liverpool Street is a bit better for any NYC or Toronto based conferences.
Phase 4 - Will it live up to my hopes at Shoptalk Vegas
Shoptalk Vegas is coming up next week. This is really the big test. I'm leaning towards taking the Pockets Icon tote, but it only has one major pocket (and some smaller interior pockets) so we will see how organized I can stay. I plan to carry around my laptop, charger, water bottle, some snacks, and then quite a bit of merch (if you want a great water bottle, portable charger, or entry into our AMAZING raffle, come find me!)
It also doesn’t have a travel strap to affix it to my suitcase, and I’m not thrilled about having to put it under my seat, since it’s beige. BUT it does have some quick access pockets for business cards and raffle tickets. I guess we will see if it can handle the Vegas heat!
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