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~ Schuhe24 ~

e care about local retailers opened their eyes. In 2013, our platform became a success, and
‘Schuhe24 is very different from other we have attracted many more retailers since.’
We-commerce players. Our main focus is on local
retailers. We think about retailers and why they are different Good content is the challenge
from certain other retailers. This means that we do not think ‘We do have some e-commerce challenges within the fashion
about the differences between customers. When we create and shoe industry. Manufacturers often do not have good
an internationalisation strategy, we have to focus on how we quality content, and they do not provide it for us. Around
can connect with retailers in the local country. In addition, 80% of manufacturers do not have high-quality pictures,
we also have to think about the local possibilities offered. descriptions or data. This means that we have to create all of
This strategy is distinct from, for example, Zalando, which is the content ourselves for our retailers and products, and this
more customer-oriented. We give these retailers an advantage often takes a lot of time and money. Another big challenge is
because we can offer them the opportunity to generate more competition with manufacturers. Manufacturers used to sell
revenue with our online their products to the retailers, and
last few years, the number “A LOCAL RETAILER IS customers.’
sales. This is a crucial the retailers would sell it to the
opportunity because, in the
of sales for local retailers ‘Nowadays, manufacturers have
has been declining. LIMITED BECAUSE THEY contact with companies, such as
Amazon and Zalando, and they
Lack of online knowledge get used to selling to customers.
‘The idea to create a platform DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH They opened their own online and
for other sellers was not mono-brand stores and started
My father passed away, and ONLINE KNOWLEDGE, As a consequence, this has made
initially the plan. This idea selling the products themselves.
came to be after a sad event.
it a bit difficult for retailers, as
at the time, he owned a local well as us, because the margin is
retail store. After he passed, THEY HAVE LIMITED higher on the manufacturers’ side.
I decided to take over and We try to tackle this problem by
run the family business. I selling 50% of our products that
tried to find a specific way CAPACITY AND SUBPAR are older than six months because
within this e-commerce- the manufacturers do not have
oriented world. From the older products. We currently have
very beginning, our idea was ONLINE CONTENT. I the largest storage of old products
that we would work together in Germany. The customer usually
does not care about the age of
together and take advantage MADE IT CLEAR THAT the products. In addition, we are
with other retailers. I always
wanted to improve sales
not a high-fashion business. This
of more online advantages ultimately means that we can sell
that local retailers could WE HAVE TO DO a lot of products which are a bit
not realise. A local retailer older for relatively reasonable
is limited because they do prices and manufacturers cannot.’
knowledge, they have limited SOMETHING TOGETHER, ‘These challenges affect our
not have enough online

capacity and subpar online business in many different ways.
content. I made it clear that AND THIS WILL MAKE We have to run a big team
we have to do something that works all day to provide
together, and this will make the pictures, descriptions and
us all stronger. However, US ALL STRONGER. ” attributes for all of the new
most retailers said that this products. Also, our stock is
was a fantasy. They believed relatively low compared to the
that companies, such as big players, such as Amazon or
Zalando, would go bankrupt. Others said they did not like the Zalando, because the retailers themselves have a very limited
online world, but they did want to earn more revenue. In the stock available. This means that the content we create is for the
end, most of them were opportunistic, as I am a local retailer as minimal stock, but it requires a lot of effort. People outside of
well. We started with ten local retailers, all friends of mine. The our industry assume that most stores have the same products
sales within the online platforms were very promising, and this available. However, this is definitely not the case. The variety

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