Spartoo attacks ready-to-wear

The French footwear website is entering the ready-to-wear market for men and women. For its debut, the site is offering 6,000 items from the spring-summer 2013 collections of some one hundred brands.

The move represents a major extension of its product line that involved significant modifications to the site, including revised product sheets, but also an expansion to its logistics warehouse with a new 15,000 square-meter mezzanine. The new products are not just restricted to France but being offered in twenty European countries where Spartoo operates. With a product line of 30,000 shoe models from 700 brands, the website had already expanded its catalog to include bags and luggage in 2010, then watches and jewelry in 2012.

“You do not sell jackets and hoodies on the Internet like you do shoes,” said Boris Saragaglia, CEO of Spartoo. “All totaled, Spartoo is investing several million euros in ready-to-wear this year. The arrival of apparel will allow us to continue our strong growth by offering an even broader range of products. Even if our heart is still in the shoe business, diversification helps to attract new customers and improve retention of others!” Customers will discover a clothing world divided into four sections. The fashion section offers items from Esprit, Desigual, Mexx, DDP, Vero Moda, Eleven Paris and Joseph. Denim will also benefit from big names such as Diesel, G-Star, Kaporal, Pepe Jeans, Jack & Jones, Temps des Cerises and Levis. The Sport Lifestyle section will include Adidas Originals, Nike, Puma, Converse, Rip Curl, Quiksilver, Volcom and others. And Casual will offer Gant, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, Chevignon and Façonnable.

As an explanation of its launch into ready-to-wear, Spartoo said that online sales of clothing increased by 8% last year, while the market’s domestic sales only grew by 2.1%. While footwear earns 8 million euros in France, the clothing market is three to four times larger. The website hopes to see ready-to-wear assume a “significant portion” of its sales within 3 years. Meanwhile, the website is on track to earn 130 million euros in 2012.

Spartoo attacks ready-to-wear

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