How RefrigiWear is growing on Amazon

“How many ways are there to sell on Amazon? Which is the best one for us?”

This is what RefrigiWear’s team was wondering as soon as Amazon started growing.

RefrigiWear is a well-known fashion brand, particularly appreciated for its tech-urban clothing. Until a few years ago RefrigiWear’s products could be bought in physicial stores or – in few cases – on Amazon (by some third party distributors). 

Most part of these third party sellers were able to reach a wider audience on Amazon but their digital content and prices were not aligned to the brand policies. 

Phase 0 – RefrigiWear sells to Amazon (as a Vendor) 

In order to get more control and increase sales, RefrigiWear decided to sell on Amazon as a Vendor. So, in this phase, the brand sold its products to Amazon, who operated as an ordinary retailer. 

The Vendor strategy could help brands increase sales and “limit” the other sellers, but it also diminishes the brand’s autonomy and power.  

1. With a Vendor Strategy the brand sells its products to Amazon at a very low price (wholesale). Moreover Amazon aks for further discounts related marketing, returns, etc. The result? The brand gets low margins, since – on average – Amazon asks for a 10-20% discount on wholesale prices.
2. Amazon is completely free to set up the final price
3. Amazon buys a selection of products and it may ask to give part of the unsold products back after a certain amount of time 
4. In order to join special sales events such as Prime Day or Black Friday, Amazon may ask for a further discount on wholesale price as a contribution fee
5. Amazon stimulates brands to invest in advertising to increase sales when they are underperforming.

 

Phase 1 – RefrigiWear sells TO Amazon and ON Amazon with YOCABÈ

In order to overcome the Vendor’s limits, the brand also decided to follow a Seller Strategy, selling on Amazon through YOCABÈ

 

RefrigiWear chose a selective control strategy. So they sold part of the latest collection to Amazon and part to YOCABÈ.

The partnership with YOCABÈ let RefrigiWear get:

1. Up to 60% more margins

Selling through YOCABÈ’s Seller account was more convenient: margins grew from 12% al 60%, if compared to the Vendor Strategy (phase 0)

2. Pricing full control 

YOCABÈ’ s SmartPricing algorithms have been dynamically selecting the best price for a given moment, while protecting the brand’s policies and margins  

3. “Clean” and optimized catalogue 

Titles, product descriptions and images have been aligned to the brand policy and identity 

4. Optimized and “Lean” Logistics 

In this phase the FBA logistics was chosen to guarantee the Prime Service. 

5. Easy international invoicing procedures

Selling on Amazon Europe while using FBA would mean having local VAT numbers (in 7 different countries). With YOCABÈ the brand has not been dealing with complex and expensive fiscal local activities. 

6.  Efficient Customer Service 

 YOCABÈ’s Customer Service has been managing every request by the final customer. 

7. Immediate notifications around “unfair” third party sellers 

RefrigiWear has been receiving notifications as soon as other sellers offer a price which is lower than a preset limit 

8. Feedback on “broken listings””

“Broken listings” are irregular product pages accidentally created by the marketplaces and/or other sellers.  

 

Phase 2 – RefrigiWear boosts YOCABÈ’s sales channel

The good results led RefrigiWear to give more products to the YOCABÈ’s Seller account.

In this second phase we run specific Amazon marketing campaigns that produced more sales and better performances compared to the previous year (with the campaigns run by the Vendor Account). 

The partnership between RefrigiWeare and YOCABÈ got stronger and produced relevant results:

9. Increase in Sales

compared to the 2018-2019 Fall Winter season, the brand got +41% more sales overall (Amazon Vendor  account + YOCABÈ Seller account).

10. More accurate digital content 

The Amazon Brand Store structure and content has been designed to highlight the brand identity and the product offer. The YOCABÈ’s marketing team has been costantly taking care of this very special Amazon web section.  

 

Phase 3 – RefrigiWear sells on Amazon only through  YOCABÈ

The brand sells on Amazon only with the Seller Strategy, through YOCABÈ 

So:

1. RefrigiWear has been selling on Amazon only through YOCABÈ
2. A multi.channel strategy has been followed, with both use of FBA Amazon logistics (to benefit from Prime’s advantages) and the brand one. Thanks to the SmartLogistics both logistics are “connected” to increase the quantity of available products and to avoid inefficiencies and inventary duplications.
3. YOCABÈ has been dealing with each aspect of the online sales: from the catalogue creation to the customer service 

In the immediate future the presence in other relevant markets such as France and Spain will be enhanced.