NORDSTROM EXPANDS CUSTOMER SELECTION THROUGH LAUNCH OF A DIGITAL MARKETPLACE

Nordstrom is rolling out a new digital marketplace on Nordstrom.com, providing customers with a greater selection of products, brands, and sizes. The revision will also improve the online shopping experience through curation and personalized recommendations. Brand partners will be able to showcase the full expression of their brands to Nordstrom customers, growing our online product assortment.

Miguel Almeida, Nordstrom president of digital and customer experience, answered a few questions about the new effort.

Q: What is marketplace?
Almeida: Nordstrom’s digital marketplace represents one way we are expanding our online assortment beyond traditional wholesale partnerships. This unowned inventory model allows us to offer the full expression of our best brands and expands the depth of products and sizes we offer to our customers. Nordstrom.com is our largest flagship store and gives us the opportunity to offer new and existing customers more choices for more occasions. Our goal isn’t to be the everything store but to offer customers more breadth, depth, and newness in the categories that they come to us for from some of the most coveted brands in the market.

Q: Why did Nordstrom launch a marketplace?
MA: We always want to offer customers a sense of discovery when they shop with us – whether that’s in one of our stores or on our digital platforms. We know our customers and understand the products they’re searching for regularly across our digital platforms – we know what they love, and we know where we can grow our assortment to better meet their needs.
Through marketplace we aim to:
• Enhance our existing assortment by offering the full expression of our popular brands, including greater size inclusivity.
• Serve customers across a broader set of occasions, offering new and relevant brands we know they will love.
• Accelerate the expansion of our assortment to support our young customers.

Q: What’s special about Nordstrom’s marketplace?
MA: The trust of our customers and our legacy of service is what we stand for, and it is important that we maintain the same level of service by providing a seamless experience with the launch of our digital marketplace. Customers shopping Nordstrom’s marketplace will have the same access to services, including loyalty benefits and customer care support as they do on any Nordstrom purchase. From styling and alterations to fast and easy returns, to earning Nordstrom Notes, customers shopping our new marketplace selection can expect the same experience that they already know and love from us.

Q: How are you choosing brand partners?
MA: Our marketplace brand partners are thoughtfully selected by my team in partnership with our merchants as part of our broader merchandising strategy and to ensure that our marketplace experience drives the relevance and inspiration that Nordstrom customers expect from us.

Brands we are offering through our marketplace this year include AdoreMe, Alala, Ana Luisa, Cynthia Rowley, Derek Lam 10 Crosby, Deux Par Deux, Dia & Co, Dippin’ Daisy’s, DXL, La DoubleJ, Maison de Sabre, Mulberry, Natori, Onia, Tracksmith and many more.

Q: What’s next for Nordstrom.com?
MA: We are excited to offer more choices to meet the needs of our customers. As we do this, we are creating a more personalized digital experience that makes it easy for our customers to navigate our growing assortment and discover relevant brands and products. The pre-purchase journey is extremely important to the customer. We are transforming how customers discover and connect with products, brands, and content. We have enhanced our search feature for seamless navigation, surfacing relevant product and brand recommendations based on past customer engagement, and targeting customers with relevant inspirational trends and styling content. We will continue to build upon this throughout the year by listening to our customers and letting them inform our journey.