Street Moda

The Situation

Street Moda was founded in 2005 when owner and founder Matt Kubancik noticed that urban wear and designer apparel were increasing in both popularity and cost. Since then, the company has grown rapidly, selling its wares globally through multiple marketplaces as well as from its own webstore.

In October 2013, the company identified another international opportunity for further growth: expanding into New Zealand through the Trade Me marketplace.

“New Zealand represented the natural next step in our international growth strategy,” said Kubancik. “We felt that the market was a good fit for us, given that there were no language barriers and relatively low legislative hurdles. We were also encouraged by the growth we achieved from expanding into Australia.”

“As New Zealand’s largest online marketplace, Trade Me seemed to be the logical channel through which we would enter the market. The marketplace accounts for 70% of New Zealand’s domestic page impressions*, so it was crucial for us to establish a strong presence on the site,” continued Kubancik.

Street Moda recognised that its success with international marketplaces to date had been a result of leveraging the Rithum platform. As such, it looked to Rithum to guide its expansion into New Zealand.

*Nielsen Market Intelligence

The Solution

Following Trade Me’s introduction of its seller function to international retailers, Street Moda signed up as a beta customer and added the Rithum Trade Me module to its existing Marketplaces platform.

“We chose to launch on Trade Me with Rithum based on our prior experience with the platform,” said Kubancik. “Its ability to automate processes and integrate with our other software systems, coupled with the expertise of the Rithum staff, had already enabled us to expand successfully on numerous international marketplaces.”

By centralising data into a single view, the Rithum platform has enabled Street Moda to standardise and automate many operational functions, reducing the manual effort required to maintain its online presence.

“Rithum had simplified the setup process and ongoing operational efforts on virtually any marketplace,” said Kubancik. “For Trade Me in particular, components such as the feed template were very simple for us to set up, which let us push out our products extremely quickly. In addition, the product status errors are very clear and helpful at detailing what product information we need to update or add, ensuring that we provide the most accurate and up-to-date information possible.”

The information and real-time results offered by Rithum Marketplaces have also allowed Street Moda to make data-driven decisions about marketing and customer service.

“By minimising the administrative burden for us, the Rithum platform has freed us up to focus on other marketing and customer service efforts,” said Kubancik. “For instance, once we realised how much importance Trade Me customers placed on customer feedback, we made the necessary technical changes to ensure that we addressed each individual customer issue swiftly. Unlike on other marketplaces, Trade Me customers will usually edit their neutral/negative review to positive once they feel the issue has been resolved to their liking – this was a great lesson for us to learn.”

The Results

Street Moda has experienced a growth of over 328% on the Trade Me platform in the short time since its launch on the marketplace.

Currently, Trade Me has grown to become the retailer’s second highest international marketplace, with its sales volume outstripping that of other US e-commerce marketplaces on which they list.

“Our success on Trade Me wouldn’t have been possible without the capabilities of the Rithum platform as well as the expert guidance from the team,” said Kubancik. “I would recommend all US e-commerce retailers to consider expanding into New Zealand via Trade Me. The marketplace’s ease of integration with the Rithum platform, as well as its passionate customer base and low language barriers, makes it a good fit for virtually any retailer.”

“We couldn’t imagine operating and expanding to so many marketplaces without Rithum,” Kubancik continued. “Thanks to the platform, we’ve been able to scale into multiple marketplaces effectively without the need to rely on IT staff. The operational efficiencies afforded by its platform, coupled with our robust delivery system and focus on customer service, provide us with great confidence to continue expanding our growth on Trade Me and other international marketplaces.”