At the recent Retail Without Borders conference, I sat down down to talk with Carlos Cantoni, Head of Account Management at La Redoute, to discuss how to sell on Frances’ favourite fashion destination.
Selling on La Redoute is not as easy as opening an account and starting to sell. They are frankly very particular about the brands and retailers that sell on their platform and also have much higher expectations on the images and data that you’ll need to supply. However this all adds up to less competition and the opportunity to really promote your brand to the French consumer in a way that will retain margins and give you control over your brand’s exposure.
Having opened their marketplace to third party sellers 7 years ago, La Redoute is a curated marketplace and are looking for known and established brands. It may well be that a brand hasn’t listed on a marketplace before but La Redoute shouldn’t just be considered as a channel, but as a media to get your brand in front of new consumers.
Many brands and retailers may have used marketplaces to shift their end of season or distressed stock, but that’s not for La Redoute – They are the place for your new season lines and a place to launch your latest designs to French consumers.
All content on La Redoute should be in French and this isn’t limited to listing descriptions – customer support will need to be in French. Although online translation services have their place, you’ll need a fluent French speaker as they’re looking for natural language.
Pentagon, the hosts of Retail Without Borders can of course assist you to launch on La Redoute, or you can apply yourself at laredoute.fr.
