Neil Saunders’ Post

Smart branding requires smart partnerships.

The #resale market is facing setbacks with the launch of New Balance new product in partnership with Joe Freshgoods Inc. The rapid digitalization and prevalence of #socialmedia platforms have created significant opportunities for brands to engage with their audiences. However, the downside is the intrusion of bots, which have begun to negatively impact new product launches by providing resellers with opportunities to undermine sales. In response to this challenge, #NewBalance appears to have found a valuable ally in EQL an Australian platform that facilitates brands in reaching consumers and passionate fans worldwide. EQL aims to make product launches more reliable, fair, and memorable by providing a platform that counters the influence of bots, ultimately ensuring a better experience for both brands and consumers. #brandparterships #bof #sneakers #productlaunches #consumerprotection

Interesting article from The Business of Fashion about how young designer brands are venturing into the direct-to-consumer business and breaking away from wholesale pressure. But building a direct-to-consumer channel isn’t easy. #Socialmedia and #ecommerce have lowered the barriers to entry, and yet the cost and complexity of acquiring customers and managing inventory, shipping and returns make running a DTC business challenging. Challenges where Tradebyte fully supports its customers and points them in the right direction in terms of #profitability. #dtc #tradebyte #zalando #zeos

In the resale market, there’s a sort of boxers-or-briefs binary. Some brands opt for a peer-to-peer model, like eBay, where resale sites bring sellers and buyers together, with sellers listing, photographing, and shipping the products. Others opt for trade-in programs more like ThredUp, where sellers ship items to brands (or bring them to stores), and the brand warehouses, lists, and ships them, much like new inventory. What brands haven’t done much is take an all-of-the-above approach, letting consumers choose. But that’s beginning to change. Although brands tend to launch with either a trade-in or peer-to-peer model, after getting their sea legs they increasingly add the other option, too. Let’s call it “omniresale.” Great insight here from Treet's Jake Disraeli and Rylee & Cru's Sam Larson. Plus Trove's Terry Boyle, and how Trove's recent acquisition of Recurate informs this.

The launch of New Balance’s latest collaboration with Joe Freshgoods Inc. last month was destined to be a target for bad actors looking to flip the shoes on the resale market. The Chicago designer and creative director is behind some of New Balance’s most coveted sneaker releases of the past few years. With limited quantities available, his “1998″ collection of three versions of the brand’s 990v4 model was sure to be irresistible to buyers using automated bots or multiple accounts to snatch up as many pairs as possible, leaving ordinary shoppers empty-handed or forced to pay a premium once resellers listed the shoes online. Freshgoods had tried different methods designed to get his sneakers into the hands of fans, including a release through Instagram Shop. But running a drop that filtered out resellers without creating problems for regular buyers had proved difficult. For the “1998″ drop, he teamed with EQL, an Australia-based start-up founded by three ex-Google employees that has quickly become a popular line of defence for retailers looking to protect their product releases from bots and bad actors. BoF’s technology correspondent Marc Bain explores how retailers are battling bots for limited-edition sneakers, watches and collectibles. Read more below:

🍃How to build an effective & circular secondhand business model for brands ?🍃 Here are our 3 main tips 1 - EASE CUSTOMERS’ LIFE Customers have already practical resell solutions: in CtoC thru platforms like Vinted or by sending boxes to solutions that pay quick but 10 to 2 times less. Therefore, if a brand wants to find a place in the second hand market, its offer must add a value! 2 - FACILITATE RESALE BY COLLECTING IF YOU HAVE STORES Historical players first offered collection solutions for brands, this is relevant if the brand has a large network of stores : the customer returns the item in exchange for a voucher worth more than buyback solutions & the brand generates drive-to-store But how to balance supply & sales? For example, Urban Outfitters has declared that they can collect 3X more than what they can sell... and what about customers that want to get the full value of their second-hand product and not a voucher ? 3/ FACILITATE CtoC RESALE TO REACH ALL CUSTOMERS This is recent option for brands based on a simple idea: the brand has information on the product which help create the listing in CtoC (description, price, image, etc.). The item is generally sold on the brand website competing with new products… With Slöer the listing is displayed on our multibrand platform design by and for brands to give them true circular income : commission & make sure the listing doesn’t compete with new collections! We know that customers resell thru a catalogue if they quickly find the product they want to resell…if the collection is big, they don’t search. We also noted that nothing is more efficient than a direct access on the product thru a QR code & it opens so much more services to make the product last longer ! Therefore the answer is unique for each brand depending on its collection size, distribution channels, price level and market…That’s what we do at Slöer : building the best mix for brands to help them find their own profitable circular business model! Feel free to contact us : hello@sloer.co to get your own recommandation ! Feel free to add your own tip or feedback in comment ! Victoire Satto Marjorie Biawa Coline LAURENT Yann Rivoallan Maurane NAIT MAZI #circularity #secondhand #fashion #digitalID #DPP

TryNow.com Weekly Update 5.23.24 ⚡ • Diversifying across verticals: beauty, supplements, handbags and jewelry with some exciting brand launches this past week and next. • Recorded a 🔥 case study with Jeffrey Gaudette, the Head of Ecommerce at Billy Reid who has driven impressive results with Try Before You Buy. Always invigorating to work with early adopters like Jeff who move with velocity and zero in on the most important initiatives that drive step function changes. • We shipped TryNow Entry Point Insights into beta. Entry points create high-converting flows for brands — shoppers that pass through an entry point are presented with a try-only experience that converts at higher rates. Our new Entry Point Insights module provides merchants with a deeper understanding of conversion rate performance within these entry points. The below apparel merchant is seeing a 2.8x improvement in conversion rates within TryNow pages compared to their baseline. Their strategy is simple — make it easy to get more of their great products into more hands in more homes. #TryBeforeYouBuy #Shopify #TryNewThings

"🌟 Calling all investors! 🌟 Exciting opportunity alert! We're launching a cutting-edge silver jewelry brand poised to revolutionize the e-commerce landscape. 💍💎 Our startup combines timeless craftsmanship with modern technology to deliver exquisite pieces directly to customers' fingertips. With a focus on quality, affordability, and sustainability, we're set to captivate the market. Join us in shaping the future of online jewelry retailing. Let's make brilliance happen together! 💫 Interested in being part of this transformative journey? Reach out to learn more! #InvestInInnovation #SilverJewelry #Ecommerce"

We are well and truly gutted that another strong and well known fashion business is closing the remainder of their stores in the upcoming days 💔 Unfortunately, it is getting too familiar walking down your high streets and seeing "For Sale" or "Closing Down" Signs. This is why it is so important to support your local businesses as well as larger branded businesses. Without customers, there's no business. With our moto being "We Know Retail" - we really mean it, Retail is our specialty. These are the sort of businesses and people that we work with every single day to try and ensure that they can reach their full potential in sales without any Hardware or Software issues getting in their way. If alike Ted Baker you are having to close your doors to your physical stores for whatever reason, then allow us to support you in focusing on your ecommerce store for success in a different approach in such a technology driven society. Or you can take a minute or two of your day to have a read of some of our blogs that may help for your store to appeal to the public and hopefully bring in custom 🤞 https://lnkd.in/eTd-dPX3 #Datascan #WeKnowRetail #TedBaker #StoreClosure #Online #ByeBye #Sadness #AnotherOneBitesTheDust #Finances #Ecommerce #BreakingNews #Retail #Giant #UK #Shops

WHY FRASERS GROUP SHUTTERED MATHESFASHION The Business of Fashion: In the latest blow to the luxury e-commerce sector, the embattled Matches is closing down just over two months after being acquired by Frasers Group as relationships with brands have reportedly soured. Frasers Group is putting Matchesfashion into administration, just over two months after the retail giant acquired the struggling luxury e-tailer for £52 million ($66.6 million. Frasers Group originally bought Matchesfashion (which rebranded to Matches late last year) to increase its position in luxury, but brands have begun to sever ties with Matches as some of them have not received payments for months, according to a report in Sky News. “Whilst Matches’ management team has tried to find a way to stabilise the business, it has become clear that too much change would be required to restructure it, and the continued funding requirements would be far in excess of amounts that the Group considers to be viable,” Frasers Group said in a statement. “In light of this, Frasers has been informed that the directors of Matches have taken the decision to put the Matches group into administration. Frasers remains committed to the luxury market and its brand partners.” It’s an unfortunate conclusion that was once inconceivable for Matches. Founded in the late 1980s by Tom and Ruth Chapman as a brick-and-mortar store in London, Matches was once a profitable company renowned for its curated selection of emerging brands. It eventually went online in 2007, launching a storefront and app that grew to carry more than 500 top luxury brands, including Balenciaga and Gucci. In 2017, private-equity firm Apax Partners acquired Matches at a reported $1 billion valuation, and by 2019, the company’s sales peaked at £431 million. But once the pandemic hit in 2020, Matches’ losses soon began to mount: It struggled to navigate lockdown restrictions as competition from e-commerce rivals such as Farfetch, Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa ramped up. Apax Partners also pumped millions in improving Matches’ backend operations and the user experience on the site. Matches shuffled through four chief executives in four years before hiring former ASOS CEO Nick Beighton in 2022 to grow the business. Beighton overhauled the executive team, installing industry veterans from Farfetch and Frasers Group as chief commercial officer, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He also increased the number of brands offered on the platform and introduced a rental service. But those initiatives did little to improve the company’s fortunes. Matches ended fiscal 2023 with £40 million in losses on the basis of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, up from £25 million in the previous year. Its sales also dropped to £380 million during the same period. explore more: https://lnkd.in/gKgfAnys #fashion #crisis #metaverse