The Situation
Lexington reports that it had inquiries from marketplaces for years, but didn’t want to commit for the added complexity and time.
“Unless you have good partners, it’s complicated,” said Karl Lindhe, previous international sales director for Lexington, who remains responsible for running Lexington’s marketplace business. “You’ve got to have your feeds and mapping process, then narrow down different Excel spreadsheets. You can’t [afford to] send stock every 15 minutes.”
But the idea of partnering with an international marketplace was still appealing to Lexington for its growth potential and opportunities for new partnerships.
The Solution
Lexington turned to Rithum as a guide for launching into marketplaces. Lexington says that Rithum stood out for its ability to connect with different partners, as well as its managed service offering. According to Lexington, this allows it to receive support across the entire journey since the company didn’t have its own marketplace division at the time.
Lexington initially launched on Amazon, La Redoute and Zalando, where it reports it expanded from one to 19 markets in just two years. With help and automation from Rithum, Lexington says it can now focus on its core business functions like product and sales instead of spending time on error resolution, mapping and feeds.
“They sound like easy tasks, but it’s quite time consuming,” said Lindhe. “Every hour we can save to focus on what’s really important for us to grow is quite valuable.”
Rithum analytics also provide weekly reports like onboarding, sales, stock and more, which, according to Lexington, serve as a foundation for every decision the company makes. More than that, Lindhe says Rithum is a true partner that the company can bounce ideas off of to help it scale.
The Results
By entering marketplaces with support from Rithum, Lexington states that it has seen tremendous results, particularly on peak sales days. Between 2020 and 2021, Lexington reports that it experienced:
- 83% increase in net sales
- 400% growth on Black Friday
Lexington also appreciates the Rithum network, which has brought the company strong, relevant introductions to new partners.
In terms of optimising day-to-day operations, Lexington says that Rithum has helped it improve its data and imagery across digital campaigns. The feedback the company receives is helpful in quarterly business reviews and annual meetings as the company focuses on long-term goals.
“Without Rithum, we would have to put our focus much further back in the value creation chain,” said Lindhe. “We’d have more time-consuming tasks—and I would need a bigger team.”
