Case Study

A win-win when Supasnug turned to Cloudshelf to expand stockists

Supasnug used Cloudshelf to get its full range of gorgeous slippers into more retailers, while the retailers delighted in selling the full range at no cost.

October 15, 2022

Giles Corbett

A win-win when Supasnug turned to Cloudshelf to expand stockists

When Danny Shaw and Matt Broughton co-founded Supasnug, an independent business producing the most sumptuous, yet socially conscious and environmentally aware slippers, they knew they were on to a winner. With over 50 years of joint experience, they also knew that to expand sales and brand, they couldn’t rely on their online presence alone, however fast it was growing. It was obvious to these retail veterans that they would need to expand in part through physical stores. This is a recurring theme we observe of DTC companies using pop-ups to expose their brand to different groups of consumers, and now one that is promoted by analysts such as Accenture, PwC but also Shopify.

The problem in establishing new stockists

The issue however rapidly becomes the cost of stock. Either the brand invests substantially to fund a wide range of stock at each stockist; or you need to convince stockists to pre-purchase and allocate enough shelf space. Looking for a better way forward Danny approached Cloudshelf.

We created an extension to our interactive offering that allows any Cloudshelf retailer to add as many locations as they want on the fly (see how here here). In Danny’s case, the first two were Mantidy and In:Residence in London. Each was given a Cloudshelf display that could present the entire Supasnug range and would be positioned next to a small sample of display products.

The win through use of Cloudshelf

Shoppers could see the quality of the product, and then use the Cloudshelf to find the design they wanted. Using Cloudshelf's simple scan-and-pay feature, customers could order their perfect pair of slippers in a couple of clicks. Both the brand and the stockist then receive a report showing what product was sold from their store, allowing the brand to pay the equivalent of a drop ship commission to the store.

From the shopper’s perspective, they were delighted as they had visited a local store, received knowledgeable advice, and been able to buy exactly the product they wanted -leaving the store satisfied.
From the stockist’s perspective, they had been able to explore a new product range without taking any risk on stock. They hadn’t needed to hand over a large area of their store to expose the new range. They had gained a satisfied customer, instead of risking an unhappy walkout.
From the brand’s perspective, they had been able to convince a new stockist to promote the range, and gained in brand awareness.

With no downside, this has created a strong win-win-win scenario.

At Cloudshelf we have since developed this offering further. It is now possible either for the brand to promote their own Cloudshelf in a stockist’s store, as in the example above; or the store can be in the driving seat, upload the ranges from brands to their existing Cloudshelf and offer the new brand among their existing offering. Cloudshelf analytics support both approaches.