Nordstrom Launches Digital Marketplace to Enrich Shopping Experience

Fashion retailer, Nordstrom, launches a new digital marketplace on nordstrom.com, offering a wider selection of products, brands, and sizes to meet diverse customer needs. "Our goal isn’t to be the everything store, but to offer customers more breadth, depth and newness in the categories that they come to us for," said Miguel Almeida, president of digital and customer experience at Nordstrom.

The marketplace boasts a curated assortment of products, including a broader size range for inclusivity, and introduces customers to new and relevant brands. Some notable partnership brands featured on Nordstrom's marketplace include AdoreMe, Cynthia Rowley, Natori, Derek Lam 10 Crosby, and more.

Nordstrom's marketplace includes features like personalized recommendations based on past purchases and browsing history, designed to assist shoppers in discovering products. Furthermore, customers can expect Nordstrom's renowned services such as styling advice, alterations, and hassle-free returns.Looking ahead, Nordstrom remains committed to enhancing its digital platform, prioritizing customer feedback and preferences to deliver a personalized and engaging shopping journey.

Secondhand Fashion Marketplace Vinted Scores First Annual Profit

Vinted, Europe's dominant online marketplace for secondhand fashion, has posted its first annual profit while experiencing a significant jump in revenue. The Lithuanian startup turned a €20 million loss in 2022 into a net profit of €18 million last year. Revenue increased by an impressive 61% to €596 million.

Thomas P., CEO of Vinted, noted that although second-hand fashion currently represents a "tiny" part of the market, the company is strategically positioned for growth. In addition to expanding into new markets such as Denmark, Finland and Romania, Plantenga highlighted the accelerated development of Vinted Go, the company's delivery service.

Vinted is also actively positioning itself as a key player in the European sustainable fashion market. The company aims to increase both the number of customers and countries participating in the buying and selling of used clothing, while improving the logistics for consumer-to-consumer deliveries.

"The growth of consumer-to-consumer used fashion is a powerful way to mitigate the harm of the fashion industry and the reason behind our mission to make used fashion the first choice," Plantenga added.

Shein Wants To Sell Skincare, Toothpaste and Toys, Too

Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is courting brands like toothpaste conglomerate Colgate-Palmolive and toymaker Hasbro as it tries to sell more household names on its platform. Known for cheap own-brand clothing and accessories, Shein is moving into other categories and has given brands and retailers access to its platform in nine European countries so far, having done so in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico last year.

The strategy, part of Shein's plan to build credibility and better compete with Amazon is enabling the business to expand and develop new ways of selling goods ahead of a planned stock market listing later this year. Shein presented its marketplace services at an event in Madrid last month alongside Colgate-Palmolive, Hasbro (HAS.O), Orangina maker Suntory Beverage & Food, and Spanish cosmetics brand Bella Aurora.

"Everybody associates Shein with fashion, but we are doing all verticals," Christina Fontana, senior director of brand operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Shein, told delegates at a conference in Paris on April 17. Seeing shoppers opening Shein and searching for other brands provided the impetus, Fontana said. "Our consumers want brands, [so] if that's what they're looking for, that's what we're going to give them."

Fontana, who previously worked for AliBaba, is one of several marketplace experts Shein has poached from the Chinese e-commerce giant and other firms.That recruitment has helped fuel rapid expansion. Shein had an average 108 million monthly active users in European Union member states in the six months to Jan. 31. But the company's growth has brought new complications, including new EU rules requiring it to police its platform for illegal or harmful products. In Europe, Shein's marketplace is so far available in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.