ESW sees strong sales as cross-border shopping grows

The pandemic and Brexit may have dampened enthusiasm for cross-border shopping among some consumers, however the channel remains a buoyant one as the latest news from global cross-border e-tail specialist ESW showed on Monday.

The Dublin-headquartered company announced that it's to recruit 500 more staff and that its revenues should reach $1.5 billion this year. That would be a 20-fold rise over just half a decade. It’s also predicting revenue of $5 billion within three to five years and that its headcount will rise to more than 1,100.

The growth it has seen this year has come on the back of it signing up over 20 new global brand partners, including Gucci, Kering, EBEL, Olivia Burton, The Irish Store, Rossignol, Abercrombie & Fitch and J.Crew.

The company manages direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels for brands selling apparel, footwear, leisure, cosmetics, accessories and luxury goods.

It said growth will be driven by “strong momentum organically in growing markets as well as planned bolt-on acquisitions, as the world continues to make a strong and sustained structural shift to e-commerce".

It added that the new roles with be brought in over the next three years as it expands its office presence in New York, Singapore, France, Italy, the UK and Germany.

And as it expands, the company said it will be putting “specialist focus on solutions that address specific needs in the Apparel & Accessories, Beauty and Cosmetics and Luxury categories”.

The product portfolio has already been diversified to meet a wider range of market requirements and now includes a variety of solutions ranging from light-touch integration up to complete enterprise DTC solutions from the design and build of brands’ online store to the day-to-day management of the trading environment.

To support its expanded portfolio and strong growth in both the UK and France, it has also announced a raft of new senior appointments in those countries. Noelle Burke has been named Chief People Officer; Natashia Redfern has been appointed Director of Sales UK and comes from a strong logistics e-commerce background; and Thomas Rouland and Jerome Duclos are Sales Directors in France, “with deep industry experience and knowledge in checkout and payments respectively”.

Earlier this tear, Asendia, the joint venture between La Poste Group and Swiss Post, acquired full ownership of ESW. It had previously owned 50.1% of the business. But ESW continues to operate as a standalone business.

ESW sees strong sales as cross-border shopping grows

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