Digital wholesale platform Joor announced an exclusive retail partnership with Chalhoub Group, the Middle Eastern luxury distributor and parent company of Level Shoes.
The move comes as Joor is expanding its presence in both the Middle East and luxury markets, and working to build on its recent rapid growth, having reached a record gross merchandise value (GMV) on its platform in July.
Known for its brand wholesale platform, Joor also operates a retail function that lets users manage their assortment planning within a single interface. Many software companies offer a merchandising platform for retailers, but this is commonly only for internal use and requires the retailer to request data from prospective brand partners, which can then be uploaded to the planning platform.
Joor takes a different approach. Because of its extensive list of brand customers, Joor is able to leverage that engagement to create a simplified B2B buying experience where everyone is already integrated within the same wholesale system. Data is always accurate and automatically updated for all parties whenever changes are made.
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“The real magic here is that we’re the only ones in the industry whose [retailer] product rests upon the brand product as well,” said Kristin Savilia, CEO at Joor. “We have spent 10 years at Joor building up our brand audience: We now have 75% of luxury brands using Joor. So as a luxury retailer, when you choose our retailer product, unlike others there’s no need to solicit data.”
In recent months, Joor has added Clarks, Jimmy Choo, Converse Japan and Camper to its platform, with the footwear category now accounting for over 25% of the platform’s GMV to date. Savilia partly credits this popularity to the platform’s ability to handle multiple SKUs. Particularly for larger customers that may be working with hundreds of similar products, being able to see all items clearly laid out in a single digital interface is paramount for inventory planning.
The inclusion of Chalhoub Group as an exclusive retail partner is therefore a continuation of this market acquisition. It also reflects the company’s commitment to the luxury sector and helps establish Joor as a bigger presence in the Middle East, following its partnership with Arab Fashion Council.
“Chalhoub Group is a premiere retailer of the Middle East and Level Shoes is really going to help us expand that category that we’ve been maximizing,” said Savilia. “So it’s twofold: Getting into a space deeper than we already were and expanding our global reach into the Middle East, which is very important.”
This is the latest in a string of announcements from the company. Earlier in the year, Joor launched its Passport function, which powers digital fashion events and has so far hosted London Fashion Week, Premium Berlin and Cabana Miami. Upcoming events include Liberty, Splash Paris and Capsule.
As part of its permanent wholesale offering, Joor released the Edit feature in July that allows users to collaborate through a lookbook-type platform. Savilia described this as a way to recreate the showroom experience of “editing down your assortment” with a brand associate.
While she couldn’t reveal any specific coming updates, Savilia confirmed that Joor would also be introducing new features in the months to come.
“We have a comprehensive offering, but we’re innovators; Joor always leads in innovation in this industry and we will continue to do so,” said Savilia. “So we have a couple of more items up our sleeves for sure.”
