Leboncoin lays out its fashion ambitions with Videdressing

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Nov 24, 2018

On the occasion of its purchase of e-commerce platform specialising in second-hand apparel Videdressing, Leboncoin has announced the creation of its fashion segment. It's a market which is already a major driver for the company, CEO Antoine Jouteau told FashionNetwork.com, even if it was previously grouped in with the site's "home" category. 

"Leboncoin isn't necessarily the most 'sparkly' platform offering fashion, but it's already an important place for hunting for second-hand goods, especially shoes and bags," Jouteau explained to FashionNetwork.com, shortly after the announcement of the Videdressing deal. "Fashion is one of our main activities, as part of 'Home', and contributes 10% of customer base. But, obviously, bringing together Leboncoin and Videdressing will allow us to create an uncontested leader."

On 22 November, Leboncoin was hosting 3.3 million listings related to clothing, 1.06 million related to shoes, 301,902 for watches and jewellery, and 570,118 for accessories and luggage. Since the beginning of the year, fashion products have generated some 17 million listings on the site, which sees peaks in these categories in October and at the end of the year. 

In September 2018, 2.5 million visitors out of the 27.3 million reported by the site for the month were attracted by these announcements. The site reports that it deals with two kinds of customers: the first searches for everyday products with keywords such as "dress" or "coat", while the second is looking for outfits for special occasions, using words such as "wedding" or "hiking" along with well-known brand names. 

So might we be seeing listings from Videdressing popping up on Leboncoin in the future? The question is yet to be resolved, according to Leboncoin's management, for whom the acquisition of the second-hand fashion platform launched in 2009 has as much to do with sectorial opportunities as it does with technological synergies. 

"We wanted to acquire Videdressing because one of our objectives is to continue to grow as a general retailer and fashion is already a very important sector for us. It's seen very strong growth. The second reason is more technological: clearly, Videdressing is very transaction savvy. They offer customers different payment methods and manage delivery. Obviously, these are things that we want to integrate into Leboncoin, in order to offer a better service to our users."

Videdressing, which was led by Jérémy Delorme until 2017, currently reports around 1 million active listings, 25,000 transactions per month and 3 million unique monthly visitors, as well as a volume of business amounting to 35 million euros in 2017. The company has put confidence at the centre of its strategy with a "satisfied or your money back" approach, which customers can take advantage of with no fees in the two days following purchase. Furthermore, for high-end or luxury products, the platform offers a guarantee of authenticity ensured by legal practitioners and other experts who monitor the items on sale for counterfeits. 

Thus far, there has been no news on the exact manner in which the two management teams will be brought together, although a meeting on the subject was held on the afternoon of 22 November.