May 28, 2025 • 22 mins
How can businesses effectively navigate the complexities of multiple partnerships to build a co-marketing strategy that drives success? In this 185th episode, Andrew Maff sits down with Kimberley Walker, Director of Brand Partnerships & Business Development of Sportique.
From understanding customer demands and trends, to creating an effective co-marketing strategy, Kimberly shares her insights on how to manage multiple partnerships from drop shipping to wholesale. While it requires continuous research and attention once you get the ball rolling, a well-managed co-marketing strategy can be the difference between a successful business and one that fails to gain traction in the market.
What You'll Learn:
- How to choose the right suppliers to meet your store's unique needs and boost efficiency
- Strategies to build stronger relationships with brand partners through effective communication
- How to overcome common co-marketing challenges and drive better results for your brand
- The different types of business partnerships and how they can help grow your business
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kimberley Walker (00:00):
Yeah, but I will say a lot of it is, is
(00:04):
really making sure that we'recontinuing to step out of the
market. Go into stores, go totrade shows, chat to chat to
people. You know, ultimately youneed to, you need to keep
connecting with the customer andand talk to them.
Andrew Maff (01:15):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
the E comm show. I am your host,Andrew Maff, and today I am
joined by the amazing KimberleyWalker, who is the Director of
Brand partnerships over atSportique. Kimberley, how you
doing? Ready for good show?
Kimberley Walker (01:29):
I am happy to be here.
Andrew Maff (01:32):
Yeah. I appreciate you being on the show. Very
excited to learn a lot aboutyourself and, of course, about
the business I always like todo, kind of the stereotypical
thing. Give you the floor. Andhave you tell us a little bit
about your background, where yougot started, how you got
involved with sportique, andwe'll take it from there.
Kimberley Walker (01:48):
Amazing. Well, it is a pleasure to be here.
Andrew. A little bit more aboutme. I started my journey. I'm
originally from Australia, so Istarted in retail, and started
in actually, in E commerce,right from the get go. I knew I
(02:13):
went to fashion school, Istarted working on that side of
the industry, and then realizedpretty quickly that I was better
suited to the business side, andthat's how I stepped into
buying, which was the avenuethat I started in, and stepped
into an E commerce businesswithin Australia that became the
largest online shoe retailer inthe country. It was emulating
(02:38):
Zappos actually at the time TonyShea's business, so started in
the buying side of things.
Really loved the blend ofcreative and commercial
thinking, and came up throughthat, then went into a very
large global retail business inthe Watch space. And that was
(03:00):
bricks and mortar, doingpurchasing there as well, and
brand management. And then thattook me over to Hong Kong
briefly as well to work in theAPAC market. And then along that
journey as well, then land inthe US doing again, more brand
management and purchasing, butin the largest global market,
(03:22):
and, you know, popped around afew other places, but
ultimately, I knew I wanted tobe back in E commerce. I'd done
bricks and mortar, I, you know,done in store, and realized that
that space was really where Ifelt passionate about many, many
years later, I nowwork forSportique. I am based in San
(03:48):
Francisco, and just being in thehub of tech and E commerce, I
knew about the business for sometime, living in the city and
connected with the founder andreally loved what they were
doing. Really loved thethoughtful curation and the way
that they structured theirbusiness.
Andrew Maff (04:10):
Nice. So for those listening that may not be
familiar with Sportique, can youtell us a little bit about the
business? Because it's a, it'san eclectic list of products.
It's a, it's a very much like alifestyle focus. Like, can you
tell us a little bit about thatand kind of its offering?
Kimberley Walker (04:26):
Of course. So Sportique was founded about 15
years ago, and the founder wasreally inspired by Colette in
Paris. That was like the sparkmoment for him, where he saw
these beautiful, highly curatedbrands in in a beautiful space
(04:47):
in Paris, and was like, Why isthis not represented in the US?
Why can't these brands existhere? And you know, it's really
elevated, premium, contemporarybrands. And really wanted that
to give them a space in theStates and to really let them
(05:08):
shine. So that's how the sitewas birthed, and how we still go
about our curation process aswell. But really, from the
beginning, it was about, I wouldsay the assortment was about 50%
international brands and 50%local coming US brands. And
(05:33):
still to this day, it's, it's areally beautiful international
mix of products, and ourcategories range from home to
fashion accessories, lifestyle,and then, more recently, we've
been stepping into a lot more ofbeauty and wellness as well.
It's what we've been hearingfrom our customers. But to your
(05:57):
point, very eclectic mix we can,you know, we have everything
from, you know, tech accessoriesthat are simple, like simplistic
phones, like mobiles, which is,you know, pulling back on
distractions from your phone.
This is really highlythoughtful, beautiful phones to
home storage to protein powdersas well. But again, it's every
(06:24):
brand that we partner with. Itis a really thoughtful and long
term partnership.
Andrew Maff (06:33):
I would like to take a break from today's
episode to thank our sponsors.
Ship4wd. If you run an Ecommerce business that ships
products from Asia to NorthAmerica. You know how stressful
the journey can get with toomany suppliers, emails, quotes,
customs delays. It's a lot shipforward makes it simple. It's a
digital freight forwardingplatform built for small and mid
sized businesses. Think bookinga shipment like booking a
(06:54):
flight, just search, compare andbook done in minutes. Instant
quotes, express shippingoptions, real time tracking and
24/7 human support. Add serviceslike customs clearance and cargo
insurance for the full end toend experience. You can try it
for free today at ship4wd.comWhat type of brands fit the
Sportique model like? What is ityou're looking for to bring on a
(07:16):
new brand?
Kimberley Walker (07:20):
Sure, when we do our curation process, it is a
combination of a lot ofresearch, also looking at
customer feedback and customersurveys, seeing what customers
are requesting, or, you knowwhat's, what's out there in the
(07:42):
market. Things like, when welook at our we look at the
product positioning. So from acategory perspective, where we
see a lot of gaps oropportunity, you know, premium
price points. So customers, likeour target customer, comes to
our site. You know, they arelooking for elevated one off
(08:02):
products. We, you know, ourprice point can be anywhere from
like, $100 all the way up to,you know, a couple of thousand
dollars for a product so reallysomething niche and unique that
(08:23):
the customer is really takingtheir time to find, I would say
that in terms of their currentpositioning in the market, like
where they are, what storesthey're in, or where they're in,
outside of potentially beingranged with Sportique, really
(08:45):
boutique positioning and and, orsome luxury retailers as well
bricks and mortar retailers, wereally look into those types of
partners that there exists, Youknow, have existing
relationships with where we'renot looking for brands that are
necessarily in big, big boxretailers, for example, we
(09:08):
really want it to be anexclusivity and an elevated
aspect.
Andrew Maff (09:13):
Is it more product led or brand led? So to clarify
on that. So do you kind of findthat hole in the market, like
you said, you find thatopportunity for a specific type
of product, and then you go andfind the brand that you think
would be a good fit to beoffered. Or do you actually come
(09:33):
across the brands and thendecipher, is this a good product
fit or not?
Kimberley Walker (09:38):
Sure can be a bit of both. We do do a lot of
research. We also go to a lot oftrade shows, which helps us keep
up as to what brands are outthere and what products we
should be stepping into, orcategories, I would say, a lot
(09:59):
of the time it is brand led,however, it's if we see gaps in
particular products, and we'regetting a lot of data coming
through, through our channelsthat are saying, you know, this
particular product type, we willthen do it as product led but I
will say a lot of it is reallymake sure that we're continuing
(10:23):
to step out of the market. Gointo stores, go to trade shows,
chat to chat to people. Youknow, ultimately you need to,
you need to keep connecting withthe customer and and talk to
them.
Andrew Maff (10:39):
The model of it, you know, basically building out
this marketplace more or less ofthese types of products. Like, I
love the concept. It makes a tonof sense. I can see how
incredibly lucrative it couldbe, and how to really dig into,
like, building that communitythat's interested in the type of
products. But I also know from alike, how complicated it can
get, because you're reallyleveraging the existing brand
(11:02):
awareness of these other brands.
So how do you, how do you kindof keep from, how do you keep
your brand, the Sportique brand,from getting hurt if these other
brands you know are doingsomething that might not align
with your values? I likemanaging those, those
partnerships, I can imagine, isa little bit of a challenge just
(11:24):
to make sure that they theirmessaging and everything remains
aligned with the Sportiquebrand.
Kimberley Walker (11:32):
Yes, yes. I mean, a big part of my role is
to consistently connect with ourkey partners to make sure that
messaging and storytelling iscontinued to be transparent and
aligned with who we are as abrand. I think that's a really
(11:53):
good call out. I think I meanone of the biggest pieces is we
do have very regular calls andcatch ups in person with our
brand partners. We there, youknow, we have conversations to
ensure that, particularly ifthere's any Co Op marketing as
(12:13):
well, that everything aligns ifthere are some challenges, you
know, there, there are ways thatwe kind of work through those
conversations. We may notfeature certain aspects, for
example, of like, the verbiageof, you know, if there's a
(12:35):
particular campaign, we may say,like, we still want to feature
you, we still want to worktogether on this, but we may
need to slightly adjust thelanguage, for example, because
it's not quite as digestiblewith our customer. We've had to
do that for a couple of brandsin the past, but it really is
(12:58):
about thoughtful, opencommunication. We we work with
our brand partners for a longtime. We go into these
partnerships with a really longterm perspective. So from the
get go, we always want to ensurethat, you know, we already are
quite aligned on do we believewe're in in sync with partnering
(13:23):
with each other, if there arechallenges down the road, yes,
we make adjustments when itcomes to how that's presented on
site.
Andrew Maff (13:31):
Yeah. Are you? Are there limitations within the
partnership, like I know somecompanies, especially in some
drop shipping models and thingslike that, you have the
limitation of, you're notallowed to market against the
brand. So you can't, you know,run ads on their name and things
like that. And in most cases,the brand you're working with is
(13:52):
not doing anything to promotethe business that's helping sell
the products. Is that a similarmodel with yours? Is it really
just like you're just simplyselling the product on your end.
Or is there some type of, like,co marketing and limitations
involved?
Kimberley Walker (14:07):
Yeah, we have a couple of different models
interwoven. So we have somebrands where we, you know, it is
a Standard Wholesale partnershipwhere we buy inventory. For some
brands, we do a drop ship modelthrough our site, and then
actually, for a few a number ofbrands, we manage their business
(14:32):
on Sportique, as in, we purchasewholesale but we also launched
those brands across a couple ofmarketplaces over the years, and
we also purchase the inventoryand do advertising for those
brands on Amazon and Haus aswell. Haus.com where, where it's
(14:54):
category appropriate. So, so wepartner is their third party
seller on these platforms asSportique, and we also range
them on our website. And so itallows inventory and marketing
to be very holistic, 360approach. So we do have a few
(15:14):
different models. And when itcomes to marketing, it is, we
have an excellent team who, youknow, have to kind of tackle
each one a little bitdifferently in terms of the drop
ship set up specifically, Ithink that's what you were
(15:36):
calling out. It's we. It's anopportunity for us to with that
brand partner, see if that's acategory fit or a product fit.
It's a little bit of a testround. And from from both ends,
(15:57):
some some brands are who arenewer to the US. That's, you
know, if they've just launched awarehouse here, and they're not
quite sure yet where they fit,maybe the pricing needs to
adjust. Maybe the position is toadjust. It is a good way for us
to connect. And then we have adiscussion, if we switch to
wholesale, like purchasing, thenwe talk about if there's a way
(16:22):
to do Co Op marketing, whetherit's through our newsletter
database or through our landingpages or social media, we'll
connect with them on that.
Andrew Maff (16:34):
Interesting and so then after that, is the next
step, also evaluating if you'regoing to take them into other
marketplaces or not?
Kimberley Walker (16:42):
Yes, yeah. And it can be twofold. Sometimes we
have brands who come to us withthat request because we work
with over 150 brands now. Wehave a number of brands come to
us knowing that that's a servicethat we offer, and we have a
whole team behind us, build outthose that presence and another
(17:06):
the other side. Sometimes we seea lot of opportunity, and we
say, well, you know, if we'dlove to feauture you on
Sportique, see how thatperforms. And then if you want
to expand to Amazon and or Haus.
Let's have a chat about it, andparticularly for international
brands, it has been a reallyimpactful way for them to build
(17:28):
brand discovery and visibility.
Andrew Maff (17:33):
That is very interesting. So you're using the
drop shipping model as kind of atesting ground. If things work
out well, you move into thewholesale model, and then,
obviously, in certain scenarios,you jump them into marketplaces
as well. Do you ever skip theDrop Shipping model and go
straight into wholesaling? Or isit always that process is like,
we're going to test you out onthe drop shipping side?
Kimberley Walker (17:55):
No, I mean, that's it. We do many brands
straight to to a true likewholesale partnership, I would
say dropship is actually quite asmall portion of our setup now,
because we have been running forfor a long time, we we have a
(18:17):
lot of data, and we know how,and we have a bit of a formula
as to how we go about ourcuration, so we we have a better
eye. So there's a number ofbrands that we go straight to a
Standard Wholesale partnershipand yeah, and then we explore
further, if that's somethingwhere everyone sees is aligned
(18:38):
and sees opportunity.
Andrew Maff (18:40):
You had mentioned as well that it's about 50%
international brands, 50% morelocal. The ones that are
international. Are they kind ofusing you as like a platform to
introduce the product line tothe states? Or is it more like,
No, we're just going to use youas a vehicle to sell in the
States, and then that's it like,what are you kind of seeing to
(19:01):
help those brands start to sellhere?
Kimberley Walker (19:05):
Yeah, I would say both. There are a number of
brands where we have been one ofthe first US e comm channels.
And, you know, really the go tolocation part of that, you know,
those kind of conversations andreally cultivating those
relationships to get to thatpoint is, you know, part of the
(19:27):
reasoning we do trade shows, andwe also have a really large
network now that we, we havemeetings with and connect with
to really understand what thosebrands motivations are for the
market. You know, so many of ushave on the team. Have a huge
level of experience in nurturingbrands and brand management, and
(19:51):
ultimately, we want to be onepiece of the pie. And we really
want to support their growthwithin the US, because it is
such a huge step to come intothis market. And it's, you know,
to make an impact, you reallyhave to invest as well and be
willing to invest in marketing.
So a number of brands, it isletting them know, like, this is
(20:15):
what we stand for, this is whowe are in the market. And if
you're ready to take this jump,you know, we are a great
platform to feature on. Andagain, like some brands might be
in the stage of they've justlanded distribution in the US,
maybe they're not there yet.
(20:38):
There are brands that wedirectly import who are not
quite that step. And for thosebrands, we really are that that
opening presence. And so we wantto make sure that that's
impactful, and then build outsome marketing around that.
Andrew Maff (20:56):
Beautiful. Very interesting. It's a it's a
impressive model. You see a lotof people try it and often fail.
And obviously Sportique has donean awesome job at getting it up
into a position to really helpinternational brands, as well as
domestic brands, and really kindof position itself in this in
the industry. Very cool.
Kimberley, I really appreciateyour time. I don't want to take
up any more. I know you're superbusy. I always kind of like to
(21:17):
close it out, let everyone knowwhere they can find out more
about you, and, of course, morewhere they can find out more
about Sportique.
Kimberley Walker (21:26):
Yes, so head to our website, sportique.com
and I'm on LinkedIn. KimberleyWalker, based in San Francisco,
always love to meet up withother people who are passionate
about brands and retail and Ecommerce, so that's where you'll
find me.
Andrew Maff (21:44):
Perfect. Kimberly, thank you so much for your time.
Everyone who tuned in, ofcourse, thank you as well.
Please make sure you do theusual rate review, subscribe all
that fun stuff on whicheverpodcast platform you prefer, or
head over to the ecommshow.comto check out all of our previous
episodes. But as usual, thankyou all for joining us, and
we'll see you all next time.
Narrator (22:06):
Thank you for tuning in to the E comm show. Head over
to E comm show.com to subscribeon your favorite podcast
platform or on the BlueTuskerYouTube channel. The E comm show
is brought to you by BlueTusker,a full service digital marketing
company specifically for Ecommerce sellers looking to
accelerate their growth. Go tobluetuskr.com now for more
(22:28):
information, make sure to tunein next week for another amazing
episode of the E comm show!
Yeah, but I will say a lot of it is, is
(00:04):
really making sure that we'recontinuing to step out of the
market. Go into stores, go totrade shows, chat to chat to
people. You know, ultimately youneed to, you need to keep
connecting with the customer andand talk to them.
Andrew Maff (01:15):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
the E comm show. I am your host,Andrew Maff, and today I am
joined by the amazing KimberleyWalker, who is the Director of
Brand partnerships over atSportique. Kimberley, how you
doing? Ready for good show?
Kimberley Walker (01:29):
I am happy to be here.
Andrew Maff (01:32):
Yeah. I appreciate you being on the show. Very
excited to learn a lot aboutyourself and, of course, about
the business I always like todo, kind of the stereotypical
thing. Give you the floor. Andhave you tell us a little bit
about your background, where yougot started, how you got
involved with sportique, andwe'll take it from there.
Kimberley Walker (01:48):
Amazing. Well, it is a pleasure to be here.
Andrew. A little bit more aboutme. I started my journey. I'm
originally from Australia, so Istarted in retail, and started
in actually, in E commerce,right from the get go. I knew I
(02:13):
went to fashion school, Istarted working on that side of
the industry, and then realizedpretty quickly that I was better
suited to the business side, andthat's how I stepped into
buying, which was the avenuethat I started in, and stepped
into an E commerce businesswithin Australia that became the
largest online shoe retailer inthe country. It was emulating
(02:38):
Zappos actually at the time TonyShea's business, so started in
the buying side of things.
Really loved the blend ofcreative and commercial
thinking, and came up throughthat, then went into a very
large global retail business inthe Watch space. And that was
(03:00):
bricks and mortar, doingpurchasing there as well, and
brand management. And then thattook me over to Hong Kong
briefly as well to work in theAPAC market. And then along that
journey as well, then land inthe US doing again, more brand
management and purchasing, butin the largest global market,
(03:22):
and, you know, popped around afew other places, but
ultimately, I knew I wanted tobe back in E commerce. I'd done
bricks and mortar, I, you know,done in store, and realized that
that space was really where Ifelt passionate about many, many
years later, I nowwork forSportique. I am based in San
(03:48):
Francisco, and just being in thehub of tech and E commerce, I
knew about the business for sometime, living in the city and
connected with the founder andreally loved what they were
doing. Really loved thethoughtful curation and the way
that they structured theirbusiness.
Andrew Maff (04:10):
Nice. So for those listening that may not be
familiar with Sportique, can youtell us a little bit about the
business? Because it's a, it'san eclectic list of products.
It's a, it's a very much like alifestyle focus. Like, can you
tell us a little bit about thatand kind of its offering?
Kimberley Walker (04:26):
Of course. So Sportique was founded about 15
years ago, and the founder wasreally inspired by Colette in
Paris. That was like the sparkmoment for him, where he saw
these beautiful, highly curatedbrands in in a beautiful space
(04:47):
in Paris, and was like, Why isthis not represented in the US?
Why can't these brands existhere? And you know, it's really
elevated, premium, contemporarybrands. And really wanted that
to give them a space in theStates and to really let them
(05:08):
shine. So that's how the sitewas birthed, and how we still go
about our curation process aswell. But really, from the
beginning, it was about, I wouldsay the assortment was about 50%
international brands and 50%local coming US brands. And
(05:33):
still to this day, it's, it's areally beautiful international
mix of products, and ourcategories range from home to
fashion accessories, lifestyle,and then, more recently, we've
been stepping into a lot more ofbeauty and wellness as well.
It's what we've been hearingfrom our customers. But to your
(05:57):
point, very eclectic mix we can,you know, we have everything
from, you know, tech accessoriesthat are simple, like simplistic
phones, like mobiles, which is,you know, pulling back on
distractions from your phone.
This is really highlythoughtful, beautiful phones to
home storage to protein powdersas well. But again, it's every
(06:24):
brand that we partner with. Itis a really thoughtful and long
term partnership.
Andrew Maff (06:33):
I would like to take a break from today's
episode to thank our sponsors.
Ship4wd. If you run an Ecommerce business that ships
products from Asia to NorthAmerica. You know how stressful
the journey can get with toomany suppliers, emails, quotes,
customs delays. It's a lot shipforward makes it simple. It's a
digital freight forwardingplatform built for small and mid
sized businesses. Think bookinga shipment like booking a
(06:54):
flight, just search, compare andbook done in minutes. Instant
quotes, express shippingoptions, real time tracking and
24/7 human support. Add serviceslike customs clearance and cargo
insurance for the full end toend experience. You can try it
for free today at ship4wd.comWhat type of brands fit the
Sportique model like? What is ityou're looking for to bring on a
(07:16):
new brand?
Kimberley Walker (07:20):
Sure, when we do our curation process, it is a
combination of a lot ofresearch, also looking at
customer feedback and customersurveys, seeing what customers
are requesting, or, you knowwhat's, what's out there in the
(07:42):
market. Things like, when welook at our we look at the
product positioning. So from acategory perspective, where we
see a lot of gaps oropportunity, you know, premium
price points. So customers, likeour target customer, comes to
our site. You know, they arelooking for elevated one off
(08:02):
products. We, you know, ourprice point can be anywhere from
like, $100 all the way up to,you know, a couple of thousand
dollars for a product so reallysomething niche and unique that
(08:23):
the customer is really takingtheir time to find, I would say
that in terms of their currentpositioning in the market, like
where they are, what storesthey're in, or where they're in,
outside of potentially beingranged with Sportique, really
(08:45):
boutique positioning and and, orsome luxury retailers as well
bricks and mortar retailers, wereally look into those types of
partners that there exists, Youknow, have existing
relationships with where we'renot looking for brands that are
necessarily in big, big boxretailers, for example, we
(09:08):
really want it to be anexclusivity and an elevated
aspect.
Andrew Maff (09:13):
Is it more product led or brand led? So to clarify
on that. So do you kind of findthat hole in the market, like
you said, you find thatopportunity for a specific type
of product, and then you go andfind the brand that you think
would be a good fit to beoffered. Or do you actually come
(09:33):
across the brands and thendecipher, is this a good product
fit or not?
Kimberley Walker (09:38):
Sure can be a bit of both. We do do a lot of
research. We also go to a lot oftrade shows, which helps us keep
up as to what brands are outthere and what products we
should be stepping into, orcategories, I would say, a lot
(09:59):
of the time it is brand led,however, it's if we see gaps in
particular products, and we'regetting a lot of data coming
through, through our channelsthat are saying, you know, this
particular product type, we willthen do it as product led but I
will say a lot of it is reallymake sure that we're continuing
(10:23):
to step out of the market. Gointo stores, go to trade shows,
chat to chat to people. Youknow, ultimately you need to,
you need to keep connecting withthe customer and and talk to
them.
Andrew Maff (10:39):
The model of it, you know, basically building out
this marketplace more or less ofthese types of products. Like, I
love the concept. It makes a tonof sense. I can see how
incredibly lucrative it couldbe, and how to really dig into,
like, building that communitythat's interested in the type of
products. But I also know from alike, how complicated it can
get, because you're reallyleveraging the existing brand
(11:02):
awareness of these other brands.
So how do you, how do you kindof keep from, how do you keep
your brand, the Sportique brand,from getting hurt if these other
brands you know are doingsomething that might not align
with your values? I likemanaging those, those
partnerships, I can imagine, isa little bit of a challenge just
(11:24):
to make sure that they theirmessaging and everything remains
aligned with the Sportiquebrand.
Kimberley Walker (11:32):
Yes, yes. I mean, a big part of my role is
to consistently connect with ourkey partners to make sure that
messaging and storytelling iscontinued to be transparent and
aligned with who we are as abrand. I think that's a really
(11:53):
good call out. I think I meanone of the biggest pieces is we
do have very regular calls andcatch ups in person with our
brand partners. We there, youknow, we have conversations to
ensure that, particularly ifthere's any Co Op marketing as
(12:13):
well, that everything aligns ifthere are some challenges, you
know, there, there are ways thatwe kind of work through those
conversations. We may notfeature certain aspects, for
example, of like, the verbiageof, you know, if there's a
(12:35):
particular campaign, we may say,like, we still want to feature
you, we still want to worktogether on this, but we may
need to slightly adjust thelanguage, for example, because
it's not quite as digestiblewith our customer. We've had to
do that for a couple of brandsin the past, but it really is
(12:58):
about thoughtful, opencommunication. We we work with
our brand partners for a longtime. We go into these
partnerships with a really longterm perspective. So from the
get go, we always want to ensurethat, you know, we already are
quite aligned on do we believewe're in in sync with partnering
(13:23):
with each other, if there arechallenges down the road, yes,
we make adjustments when itcomes to how that's presented on
site.
Andrew Maff (13:31):
Yeah. Are you? Are there limitations within the
partnership, like I know somecompanies, especially in some
drop shipping models and thingslike that, you have the
limitation of, you're notallowed to market against the
brand. So you can't, you know,run ads on their name and things
like that. And in most cases,the brand you're working with is
(13:52):
not doing anything to promotethe business that's helping sell
the products. Is that a similarmodel with yours? Is it really
just like you're just simplyselling the product on your end.
Or is there some type of, like,co marketing and limitations
involved?
Kimberley Walker (14:07):
Yeah, we have a couple of different models
interwoven. So we have somebrands where we, you know, it is
a Standard Wholesale partnershipwhere we buy inventory. For some
brands, we do a drop ship modelthrough our site, and then
actually, for a few a number ofbrands, we manage their business
(14:32):
on Sportique, as in, we purchasewholesale but we also launched
those brands across a couple ofmarketplaces over the years, and
we also purchase the inventoryand do advertising for those
brands on Amazon and Haus aswell. Haus.com where, where it's
(14:54):
category appropriate. So, so wepartner is their third party
seller on these platforms asSportique, and we also range
them on our website. And so itallows inventory and marketing
to be very holistic, 360approach. So we do have a few
(15:14):
different models. And when itcomes to marketing, it is, we
have an excellent team who, youknow, have to kind of tackle
each one a little bitdifferently in terms of the drop
ship set up specifically, Ithink that's what you were
(15:36):
calling out. It's we. It's anopportunity for us to with that
brand partner, see if that's acategory fit or a product fit.
It's a little bit of a testround. And from from both ends,
(15:57):
some some brands are who arenewer to the US. That's, you
know, if they've just launched awarehouse here, and they're not
quite sure yet where they fit,maybe the pricing needs to
adjust. Maybe the position is toadjust. It is a good way for us
to connect. And then we have adiscussion, if we switch to
wholesale, like purchasing, thenwe talk about if there's a way
(16:22):
to do Co Op marketing, whetherit's through our newsletter
database or through our landingpages or social media, we'll
connect with them on that.
Andrew Maff (16:34):
Interesting and so then after that, is the next
step, also evaluating if you'regoing to take them into other
marketplaces or not?
Kimberley Walker (16:42):
Yes, yeah. And it can be twofold. Sometimes we
have brands who come to us withthat request because we work
with over 150 brands now. Wehave a number of brands come to
us knowing that that's a servicethat we offer, and we have a
whole team behind us, build outthose that presence and another
(17:06):
the other side. Sometimes we seea lot of opportunity, and we
say, well, you know, if we'dlove to feauture you on
Sportique, see how thatperforms. And then if you want
to expand to Amazon and or Haus.
Let's have a chat about it, andparticularly for international
brands, it has been a reallyimpactful way for them to build
(17:28):
brand discovery and visibility.
Andrew Maff (17:33):
That is very interesting. So you're using the
drop shipping model as kind of atesting ground. If things work
out well, you move into thewholesale model, and then,
obviously, in certain scenarios,you jump them into marketplaces
as well. Do you ever skip theDrop Shipping model and go
straight into wholesaling? Or isit always that process is like,
we're going to test you out onthe drop shipping side?
Kimberley Walker (17:55):
No, I mean, that's it. We do many brands
straight to to a true likewholesale partnership, I would
say dropship is actually quite asmall portion of our setup now,
because we have been running forfor a long time, we we have a
(18:17):
lot of data, and we know how,and we have a bit of a formula
as to how we go about ourcuration, so we we have a better
eye. So there's a number ofbrands that we go straight to a
Standard Wholesale partnershipand yeah, and then we explore
further, if that's somethingwhere everyone sees is aligned
(18:38):
and sees opportunity.
Andrew Maff (18:40):
You had mentioned as well that it's about 50%
international brands, 50% morelocal. The ones that are
international. Are they kind ofusing you as like a platform to
introduce the product line tothe states? Or is it more like,
No, we're just going to use youas a vehicle to sell in the
States, and then that's it like,what are you kind of seeing to
(19:01):
help those brands start to sellhere?
Kimberley Walker (19:05):
Yeah, I would say both. There are a number of
brands where we have been one ofthe first US e comm channels.
And, you know, really the go tolocation part of that, you know,
those kind of conversations andreally cultivating those
relationships to get to thatpoint is, you know, part of the
(19:27):
reasoning we do trade shows, andwe also have a really large
network now that we, we havemeetings with and connect with
to really understand what thosebrands motivations are for the
market. You know, so many of ushave on the team. Have a huge
level of experience in nurturingbrands and brand management, and
(19:51):
ultimately, we want to be onepiece of the pie. And we really
want to support their growthwithin the US, because it is
such a huge step to come intothis market. And it's, you know,
to make an impact, you reallyhave to invest as well and be
willing to invest in marketing.
So a number of brands, it isletting them know, like, this is
(20:15):
what we stand for, this is whowe are in the market. And if
you're ready to take this jump,you know, we are a great
platform to feature on. Andagain, like some brands might be
in the stage of they've justlanded distribution in the US,
maybe they're not there yet.
(20:38):
There are brands that wedirectly import who are not
quite that step. And for thosebrands, we really are that that
opening presence. And so we wantto make sure that that's
impactful, and then build outsome marketing around that.
Andrew Maff (20:56):
Beautiful. Very interesting. It's a it's a
impressive model. You see a lotof people try it and often fail.
And obviously Sportique has donean awesome job at getting it up
into a position to really helpinternational brands, as well as
domestic brands, and really kindof position itself in this in
the industry. Very cool.
Kimberley, I really appreciateyour time. I don't want to take
up any more. I know you're superbusy. I always kind of like to
(21:17):
close it out, let everyone knowwhere they can find out more
about you, and, of course, morewhere they can find out more
about Sportique.
Kimberley Walker (21:26):
Yes, so head to our website, sportique.com
and I'm on LinkedIn. KimberleyWalker, based in San Francisco,
always love to meet up withother people who are passionate
about brands and retail and Ecommerce, so that's where you'll
find me.
Andrew Maff (21:44):
Perfect. Kimberly, thank you so much for your time.
Everyone who tuned in, ofcourse, thank you as well.
Please make sure you do theusual rate review, subscribe all
that fun stuff on whicheverpodcast platform you prefer, or
head over to the ecommshow.comto check out all of our previous
episodes. But as usual, thankyou all for joining us, and
we'll see you all next time.
Narrator (22:06):
Thank you for tuning in to the E comm show. Head over
to E comm show.com to subscribeon your favorite podcast
platform or on the BlueTuskerYouTube channel. The E comm show
is brought to you by BlueTusker,a full service digital marketing
company specifically for Ecommerce sellers looking to
accelerate their growth. Go tobluetuskr.com now for more
(22:28):
information, make sure to tunein next week for another amazing
episode of the E comm show!
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