Snowleader, the reblochon company
What is Snowleader ?
Snowleader
is a French startup which has created an e-commerce website
specialised in outdoor sports. It sells winter sports, hiking and
urban equipment like skis, technical garments or skateboards.
Born
in the Alps in 2008, the company offers a very large assortment as
they work with more than 250 brands like Salomon, Picture Organic
Clothing, The North Face or Völkl and more than 14,000 products are
available in their catalogue. Thomas Rouault, the current CEO, makes
it a point of honour as he carefully wants to consider all the needs
of its customers.
The financial strategy
Thomas Rouault and Gaetan
Bastard-Rosset, who were associates in Snowleader's creation, started
with only 12,000 euros. But this provision of capital was not enough
to perpetuate the company and garuantee its survival. That's why they deployed an important fundraising plan. First, the company obtain
600 000 euros from three major investors : Crédit Agricole de
Savoie Capital, Expansinvest and a « family office », a
private investor at the head of a family holding. This amount allowed
the stabilisation of the financial situation of the company and
guaranteed the working capital. Banks were also reassured so
Snowleader was more trusted and could pursue its growth and start to
think about foreign markets. A second campaign raised 2.5 million
euros, confirming the originality of Snowleader 's business
plan.
Local partnerships and support
Snowleader was initially based in
a ski station, Le Grand-Bornan, because the company needed a functional warehouse. That is why they collaborated with a local
store and were able to open client accounts and stock goods. After
the two fundraisings, the company moved to Annecy to get closer to
the brands it distribute. In fact, Annecy is the heart of the sports
industry and its main players like Salomon, The North Face,
Patagonia, Dakine, Picture Organic Clothing, Millet or Lafuma have
their European headquarters there.
A special association named
Outdoor Sports Valley (OSV) was created in 2010. Its goal is
to
unite,
represent and take part in the development of the local and
national outdoor industry by focusing on four main areas :
economic development, human resources, regional promotion and
sustainable development. The
governance of this association is divided in 3 parts : a board
of directors defines its strategic objectives and actions, elected
officials support it and an executive team accomplish it. The board
of directors is made up of 19 members,
all CEOs from the industry and
Thomas Rouault is one of them. He is responsible for business
services including, for example, delivery services or purchasing packaging, reducing significantly the costs of OSV's members.
But another partnership is a
part of Snowleader's DNA. Since its very first order, Snowleader had worked with a local cheese maker, Pochat & fils based in Thônes.
The company is very proud of its origins and Reblochon is a
symbol in Haute-Savoie, which is why they decided to offer a free cheese
for each order over 150 euros. This way, they help local producers
and promote their good quality products. It also gives
originality, credibility and a human side to the company.
Snowleader's cross-channel strategy
Finally, Snowleader adopted an original cross-channel retail strategy. This term describes a new kind of
customer experience which merges online and offline purchasing making
each retail channel complement one another.
This strategy allows Snowleader to improve its interactions
between its retail channels and make customer experiences more fluid.
It also reduces costs and margins for retail orders with a
transfer to the Internet. And finally, this strategy optimises stock
and human resources management of each channel thanks to joint management.
Snowleader has integrated this retail strategy to its global one
that's why they invested in connected and luminous store of 100m² in
the center of Annecy. The store offers a bootfitting workshop, a physical presence of Snowleader's online bestsellers and a touch screen internet module offering Snowleader's
complete online offer. Customers can easily buy the product they need. It is
also a collection point and renders customer relations more human.
As
this store is a success, Snowleader aims to open two stores a year.
So, is Snowleader a retailer of the future and an example to
follow ?
Julia D.
Wahou Julia thank you very much, I have learnt a lot of things on this company that I didn't know before !
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have one question. Do you know if the Reblochon company projects to open shops abroad ? It could be a good way to export a positive image of the french sport industry worlwide, don't you think ?
Hi Mathilde !
DeleteI totally agree with you, it would be a great opportunity for the company but it looks like they will only open stores in France first and when their foreign websites will gain more visibility, they will probably think about opening stores in UK, Germany and Italy.
Hi Julia!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this article, it's very interesting! I haven't heard about Snowleader before reading your article and the company seems to have a really great potential especially in Annecy.I have one question, how did you get to know Snowleader?
Cindy M
Dear Cindy,
DeleteYou are right, the company is doing well in Annecy, they understood that they need to be close to their business partners. Last year, i did a six month internship in the association I mention in my article (outdoor sports valley) so I met Snowleader's CEO and found this company really interesting.