How Can Fashion Brand S E Zane Sell Well Without A Shop?

Only online business in Paris Latest fashion Brand S e Zane is no longer the original eBay shop. Now the brand The number of orders per month is between one and twenty thousand, and second entities are about to open. London, England -- in 2004, Morgane S zalory began selling Ko I's second-hand eBay on her eBay. "No one believes it will become a career, not just a hobby," she said.

But that didn't stop S zalory. Since she dropped out of senior high school, she spent 4 years training on eBay repeatedly. Design She founded her personal website Les Composantes, which sells more than 100 second-hand vintage items every month.

In 2013, S e zalory once again challenged traditional wisdom. At this time, the fashion retailing industry has been moved to the Internet: Net-a-Porter and Yoox have been operating for over ten years, MatchesFashion.com has also opened domain names in 2006, Farfetch has been launched in 2007, and most of the major fashion brands have launched e-commerce business in various forms. In the United States, Warby Parker, Bonobos, Everlane and other start-ups have also opened up a new model, that is, only online fashion brands, and Nasty Gal has also gone out of the eBay shop of the founder Sophia Amoruso, becoming an independent website and brand.

But France is stagnant in this respect. "People always feel that they have to open a shop to make a brand," S e zalory said. "No one can believe that I started the brand on the Internet." But she will not be discouraged. She will re launch the Les Composantes under the S Zane brand (surname and name combination), shift the focus from the electronic retailer to the brand building, and work with a few European factories to produce feminine French style designs, such as the dress that is well worn from morning till night, the fashionable slack trousers, the detailed jacket with the back full buckle or the shoulder with the sailor style button.

A few months before the brand was reintroduced, Corentin Petit, co-founder of Balibaris, a French menswear brand, joined S's zalory business partner. From product packaging to moving everything away from the S zalory apartment, two people took care of everything about the brand. France's first brand that only started online business was born.

"The benefits are obvious," said S zalory, 31, "I don't have to bear the cost of the retailers. There is no one else between me and the consumer. It's a great quality. I don't think there is any other product that can compete with us at this price. "

Indeed, such a business model has stood the test. Warby Parker and Bonobos have both set a $100 million revenue. According to market information, Everlane will also expect to achieve $100 million in revenue this year. Like S e Zane, the foregoing enterprises are working closely with factories to sell directly to consumers and cut down the costs of intermediaries and physical stores. In this way, they can save money for consumers, sell products at a lower price increase, and achieve high quality fashion at a low price.

"We don't have much experience in making clothes, so we have to find factories that guarantee high quality production and can go frequently. We think the most important thing is to go to factories and establish very strong cooperation with factories, "S e zalory said." factories that make shoes for us also cooperate with luxury brands. But our business model determines that our prices will not be the same as those of luxury brands. Sandals, sandals, high heels and all sports shoes, which are natural colors and can be worn on most occasions, are the best selling products of S e Zane.

More than 2/3 of S's Zane products are manufactured in Europe, and these factories are also collaborate with brands such as Chloe, Lanvin and Vetements (outside Europe, in China and India). "But it's not cheap, but basically, our gross margin is the lowest in the price range of our products," Petit said. The brand's high-heeled leather sandals cost about 150 euros (about 1102 yuan), and the price of clothing is 85 euro (624 yuan) to 230 euro (1689 yuan). He added that if you add the operating costs of the store, "the final price will be very high, and then you will have to discount or promote sales." We will not do such a thing. "

However, S e zalory declined to compare brands like Everlane, which focuses on producing basic T-shirts. "We use 200 kinds of fabrics for each series. What we do is not ordinary goods, but fashion, "she said. Pricing spanparency (Everlane identifies product profits to consumers) is not in the development of S Zane. "We never explain our prices, just like consumers go to Isabel Marant and Carven to buy clothes. They will not consider the price. The most important thing is that they have a desire for these brands, "said S e zalory.

S Zane delivers two seasonal series each year and launches a smaller capsule series every month. Such a short product cycle can keep consumers fresh and avoid inventory backlog (S e Zane never discounts, and products on the website are often sold out). "This helps us avoid the problems that many companies will encounter: cash flow problems," Petit said. "We don't have to wait for anyone to pay us."

S e zalory declined to disclose the company's current revenue, saying that S e Zane had no external investors and remained profitable all the time, which was the result of control. The company manages its own spanportation and logistics. Its warehouse is located in the western part of France. It is only sold in S e zane.com, although Petit said it received "stock requests from many department stores".

The Internet is a magical form. We basically do nothing and win the hearts of consumers around the world.

However, the brand will jointly cooperate as a means to increase sales and exposure to new markets. Since 2014, the 3 Series (S e Zane design and Madewell production) launched by S e Zane and Madewell have been sold out, and fourth series will be launched in October this year. This partnership started like this: Madewell art director Alice Bucaille is French, and she especially wants to buy the La Superbe sweater that S Zane has sold out, so S e zalory deliberately left one for her to meet with her in New York.

"Madewell's ideas about lifestyle are almost the same as ours -- but they are also different. Because Madewell is from the United States and has a very casual attitude. We added French fashion sense, "said S zalory, speaking of Madewell's relaxed fashion style. The two brands are also located in similar price ranges, and the first cooperation series is priced between $85 and $315.

This partnership has also brought exposure to S Zane in the United States. In October last year, the brand's us and British businesses went online and sold orders between twenty thousand and more than 1000 each month. "There are more than 1000 orders from New York every month. What public relations activities have we not done in New York," said S e. But overall, France still occupies 80% of brand sales, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States and Belgium.

Like Warby Parker, Bonobos and other pioneered online business brands, S e Zane also began testing water retail entities. Last October, S Zane's "apartment" -- a 400 square meter "Internet store" in Paris -- opened. Customers can try all kinds of single products and purchase online, so as to avoid the inventory management necessary for traditional stores. Only a small number of stationery and household items can be purchased on the spot. The whole building is mainly used as a venue for all kinds of activities, including a private cinema with velvet seats.

S e zalory says that the flashy shop is not what we need. The space is not far from Rue Saint-Fiacre, the main shopping street in Paris. It was formerly the office of S e Zane. But then it happened that the shops next door moved away. S e zalory said they added two store space with "low rent". "This apartment is also a" image project ", which is a public relations investment. Petit added.

Today, brands also plan to expand internationally. At present, S Zane has a team of 50 people, and in 2014 only Petit and S zalory two people. More retail sales are under way. S e Zane is now looking for the right store location for the new apartment in London that will be opened this year, and it will also open an apartment in New York in 2017. The company is also preparing for further cooperation, including cooperation with Paris department store Le Bon March, in September this year, with the creative half team Atelier Franck Durand high end semi annual publication and online store Holiday.

But some things haven't changed yet: S e Zane has no plans to seek investment; although cooperation with American brands helps brands to increase exposure to new markets, the company still has no plans to make advertisements. "It may seem a little childish, but we do PR with our products," Petit said.

"The Internet is a magical form. We basically do nothing and win the hearts of consumers around the world," S e zalory agreed. "The fashion industry is still missing something. To me, the Internet provides all kinds of possibilities to make up for this. "