Shein and Sparc Group Strike a Partnership: Strange Bedfellows?

WSJ reported yesterday that online (ultra) fast-fashion retailer Shein has signed a partnership agreement with Sparc Group.

Who is Sparc Group? It's a little complex to understand; let me try and break it down.

Sparc Group is a global full-service retail firm that manufactures, distributes, and operates retail and eCommerce properties for major brands like Forever 21, Lucky Brand, and Eddie Bauer. Sparc Group has historically been a 50/50 partnership between two major firms:

* 50% Authentic Brands Group - IP licensing firm that owns the brand and collects royalties from owning the intellectual property of the brand from its partners.

* 50% Simon Properties - Real estate investment trust owning major malls globally.

So what happened with Shein? A partnership that looks like a two-way investment.

* Shein now owns one-third of Sparc Group. (Does this mean it's an equal 3-way partnership? That's how it reads to me.)

* Sparc Group invested a minority share in Shein.

What they say it means:

* Shein can sell products it doesn't manufacture - presumably the brands managed by Sparc Group and perhaps even the broader Authentic Brands Group portfolio.

* Could allow customers to return clothes purchased at Shein at Forever21 and perhaps other Sparc Group-owned stores.

* Forever21 will have access to Shein's customer base (?) and be able to market clothes there - not clear if this is through Shein's marketing channels or its own. Jamie Salter, the owner of ABG, says that additional Sparc Group brands will likely funnel through this partnership.

* Sparc Group and Forever21 are also looking to learn from Shein and its real-time, small-batch manufacturing processes, which have been disrupting the industry over the past few years -- significantly outgrowing the rest of the fast fashion industry.

What I think it means:

* This is part of the legitimizing and de-risking of Shein.

* Shein has been making all manner of moves to shake the "slave labor" and other claims.

* Plus, there is a lot of potential political risk in being a Chinese online retailer in the US market. Giving US companies a stake in Shein, Shein acquires a greater sense of legitimacy.

* Sparc Group may also see Shein as a way to create the world's largest global fashion marketplace, which would be an interesting proposition.

* Authentic Brands Group, which owns part of Sparc Group, makes money each time a sale happens or a new licensee signs up. This is about giving all the brands in the portfolio a multiplier effect: How can we turbocharge sales, encourage others to sign up, and take a piece of that too?

* I'll give Jamie Salter this: he is a smart one. This deal blunts a huge threat to his portfolio and creates a new business opportunity and potential revenue engine simultaneously.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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