Exactly one year after our last joint interview with Afound, we are delighted about exciting news from the individual brand within the H&M Group. On May 07th 2020 Afound opened a digital marketplace in Germany and in Austria as a next step in the European expansion plan.

 

From now on you as a TB.One-User can also sell on the German and Austrian Afound channels. Joanna Hummel, Managing Director at Afound told us in an interview why Afound has just decided to enter the new market and which platform partners Afound is looking for.

Tradebyte: What’s the idea behind Afound?

Joanna: The idea behind Afound is to handle overstock within the Retail industry. The solution is to offer great deals on fashion that has already been produced, meaning existing and previous collections, which hasn’t found its consumer in the full price offer.

After Sweden and the Netherlands Afound is now expanding further. Why did you choose the German/Austrian market?

Joanna: Germany is one of H&M Groups main markets. There is a large potential to reach a lot of new customers in a market with maturity when it comes to marketplace and off-price. Austria is a smaller market than Germany but still a market where the H&M Group has a good penetration. Of course there are also advantages from a developmental point of view because of the same language and the same geographical area. We look forward to meeting the customers in Germany and Austria with relevant deals and a possibility to shop more sustainable.

Which partners are you looking for and which requirements do they have to meet?

Joanna: The Afound marketplace offers products that are sold by external partners in addition to products that are sourced and resold by Afound. The marketplace model makes it possible for the customer to shop directly from a wide range of brands, and allows our partners to control both pricing and delivery. That means that partners must manage their own fulfillment to end customers. We are mainly interested in partnerships with brands in the field of fashion, sportswear and lifestyle.

We already have great partners with us on this journey that share the same vision and goals as we do and are always looking for more. Together, we need to tighten the loop and shift to a more circular fashion industry.

What do you appreciate about the cooperation with Tradebyte?

Joanna: On the journey that Afound is just in the beginning of it’s important to collaborate with strong partners for long-term relationships. Tradebyte is one of our preferred integration partners due to strong position with the brands and retailers that we would like to collaborate with.