Saks Fifth Avenue marketplace case study: book a demo to start yours
Saks Fifth Avenue is a prestigious department store brand recognized for its upscale fashion and designer merchandise, featuring a diverse selection of clothing, accessories, and beauty items. If you’d like to start your own marketplace like Saks Fifth Avenue, you’re facing a buy vs build decision. So before you decide to build it in-house on top of Spree open-source, consider using Vendo, which is the feature-rich Enterprise Edition cutting your time-to-market to a few weeks.
Build vs Buy a marketplace?
Open-source offers many benefits, including full ownership and the ability to tailor freely, but these come at a price. The process of developing a complete marketplace solution is both time-intensive and costly, typically requiring several months or even years. This understanding is based on our experiences with a range of marketplace initiatives.
Unless you have a significant amount of funding, it’s generally more advantageous to use a ready-made, all-in-one marketplace solution like Vendo, as suggested by an expert who has long charged for marketplace development work.
Back to the Saks Fifth Avenue marketplace case study
Saks Fifth Avenue, a venerated name in luxury retail, presents an intriguing case study in the evolution and success of a high-end marketplace. Founded in 1924, Saks has long been synonymous with upscale fashion, offering a curated selection of apparel, accessories, and home goods. Over the decades, Saks has managed to maintain its status as a destination for luxury shoppers, consistently showcasing premier designer brands and the latest in fashion trends.
The digital age brought new challenges and opportunities for Saks Fifth Avenue. Recognizing the shift in consumer shopping behaviors, Saks embarked on a digital transformation, separating its e-commerce and physical store entities to sharpen its focus on online growth. This strategic move proved pivotal, allowing for enhanced investment in digital infrastructure and personalized online experiences.
Financially, Saks Fifth Avenue’s adaptation to the digital marketplace has been marked by significant numbers. The company has seen a remarkable increase in website traffic, with a 79% rise, and a notable growth in new customer accounts, surging by 84% compared to previous years.
These metrics not only reflect the successful integration of their online platform but also underscore the brand’s enduring appeal in the luxury market segment. Furthermore, the growth isn’t just limited to their online presence; their physical stores have continued to play a crucial role, offering services like in-store pickups and handling exchanges and returns, contributing to an overall increase in sales in key markets.
In summary, Saks Fifth Avenue’s success story in the marketplace is a testament to its ability to innovate and adapt while staying true to its luxury roots. By effectively merging traditional retail elegance with modern e-commerce strategies and maintaining a focus on exceptional customer service, Saks has continued to thrive in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
This balancing act between online innovation and the strengths of physical retail presence positions Saks Fifth Avenue as a leading example in the luxury retail sector.
How to emulate Saks Fifth Avenue marketplace success?
To somewhat follow the path of Saks Fifth Avenue’s success, think about starting your marketplace in a few weeks rather than several months. Evaluate how well your product catalog approach aligns with what your customers want. Adjust how you attract customers based on actual outcomes.
Try out the market before you commit to creating it on your own.
Here’s what you’d be getting with a Vendo free trial:
- Book a marketplace demo call: We’ll set up your demo marketplace and populate it with products, so you could give it a try and start selling in 14 days
- Customize your Storefront: Use the drag & drop page builder or custom CSS
- Onboard Brands: Invite your brands or choose brands from our catalog
- Select Products: Curate products and collections manually or automate it
- Embed products: Make your content, newsletters, social media shoppable
- Get Paid: Get paid as soon as products are shipped by the brands
- End-to-end automation: brands sync, fulfillment, payouts, invoicing, taxes
When you’ve tried all that and it works, start thinking about building your own, custom-made marketplace project based on Spree Commerce. First, by decoupling the storefront and going headless with Vendo marketplace API, and later with your own backend, if you decide you really need it. Just lift and shift the storefront.
Nobody has to know what’s under the hood, right?
