Lexington Company Joins the Marketplace Lifestyle with ChannelAdvisor

Company Overview

Lexington is more than a home textile and fashion brand. What began as a bedding brand 25 years ago has become an international lifestyle brand that is renowned for its timeless New England style. 

Today, the Nordic brand’s home division is its largest segment, though fashion rules roughly 85% of marketplaces where Lexington is present. The company’s target audience for homeware and decor includes first-time homebuyers and “nest builders” in the 25-45 age range while the audience skews slightly younger for fashion customers. Regardless, Lexington fans seek out the brand for its relaxed and casual feel.

The Situation

Lexington reports that it had inquiries from marketplaces for years, but didn’t want to commit for the added complexity and time.

“Unless you have good partners, it’s complicated,” said Karl Lindhe, previous international sales director for Lexington, who remains responsible for running Lexington’s marketplace business.  “You’ve got to have your feeds and mapping process, then narrow down different Excel spreadsheets. You can’t [afford to] send stock every 15 minutes.” 

But the idea of partnering with an international marketplace was still appealing to Lexington for its growth potential and opportunities for new partnerships.  

The Solution

Lexington turned to ChannelAdvisor as a guide for launching into marketplaces. Lexington says that ChannelAdvisor stood out for its ability to connect with different partners, as well as its managed service offering. According to Lexington, this allows it to receive support across the entire journey since the company didn’t have its own marketplace division at the time.

Lexington initially launched on Amazon, La Redoute and Zalando, where it reports it expanded from one to 19 markets in just two years. With help and automation from ChannelAdvisor, Lexington says it can now focus on its core business functions like product and sales instead of spending time on error resolution, mapping and feeds. 

“They sound like easy tasks, but it’s quite time consuming,” said Lindhe. “Every hour we can save to focus on what’s really important for us to grow is quite valuable.”

ChannelAdvisor analytics also provide weekly reports like onboarding, sales, stock and more, which, according to Lexington, serve as a foundation for every decision the company makes. More than that, Lindhe says ChannelAdvisor is a true partner that the company can bounce ideas off of to help it scale.

The Results

By entering marketplaces with support from ChannelAdvisor, Lexington states that it has seen tremendous results, particularly on peak sales days. Between 2020 and 2021, Lexington reports that it experienced:

• 83% increase in net sales
• 400% growth on Black Friday

Lexington also appreciates the ChannelAdvisor network, which has brought the company strong, relevant introductions to new partners. 

In terms of optimising day-to-day operations, Lexington says that ChannelAdvisor has helped it improve its data and imagery across digital campaigns. The feedback the company receives is helpful in quarterly business reviews and annual meetings as the company focuses on long-term goals. 

“Without ChannelAdvisor, we would have to put our focus much further back in the value creation chain,” said Lindhe. “We’d have more time-consuming tasks—and I would need a bigger team.”