Apr 2016 | Senken Newspaper
Written by Futoshi Yamada
Senken Newspaper*
Date: April 15, 2016
Subject:
Avilas and Tabbisocks to start their B2B platform operation in October
Contents:
Made-in-Nara socks to the world with B2B
Made-in-Japan socks to retailers in the world - the B2B platform, which is a collaboration between Avilas in Nara and Tabbisocks in the US, has just been completed and will start selling products from four sock manufacturers in Nara in October. It starts with about 1000 SKU and mainly targets women in their 20’s to 60’s.
Tabbisocks has been importing and selling made-in-Japan socks for nearly 10 years. The company already has sales experience at 300 stores in the US and at 50 stores outside the US. These retailers are going to have their ID and password to log in to the new platform, then order and make a credit card payment. The final retail price is expected to be about double of the price in Japan.
The small lot products are stored in the Tabbisocks’ warehouse in San Jose, California and the large lot products are stored in the warehouse in Nara, then they are shipped directly to the retail stores. If the products are in Japan, they are shipped by air, but the retailers can check the product inventory on the online platform.
The manufacturers parepare image contents, company/product descriptions, etc. and sell them at the regular wholesale prices. Avilas and Tabbisocks will be in charge of subsequent credit management and trade. The launch of the platform started with socks from four manufacturers that have their own brand and are categorized by product type and target. In the future, it will expand the items to sports, yoga, toe socks, etc. and also add more manufacturers that are motivated and want to join the platform. This project was recognized as “the sales strategy of made-in-Japan socks for the US market by the cloud migration” and selected for a public subsidiary aid specialized for manufacturing, commerce, and service innovation.
Maarlie Wada, the founder of Tabbisocks says, “simply promoting “made in Nara” or “made in Japan” do not work. We will select products that have a clear brand history, quality, concept, message, etc. and sell them with proper branding. We will also work on big data processing.”
*Senken Newspaper was founded in 1948 and is a company that publishes textile and fashion industry newspapers. With the Tokyo head office as the center, it has branch offices and branches in Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kyushu, and Shanghai, and has a network of coverage in Paris, Milan, London, Madrid, New York, San Francisco, and Seoul. The mainstay Senken newspaper is the largest specialty newspaper in the textile and fashion industry in JAPAN.
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