Zara rival, Mango returns to Brazil at the hands of Dafiti – 03/12/2023 – Market

Bubbles, scooter or sleeve? The last option was chosen by Turkish businessman Isak Andic Ermay, a Spanish national, to name his clothing store, launched in 1984 in Barcelona. Andic had already trademarked the names “Bubbles” and “Scooter”, but a vacation trip to the Philippines in the early 1980s made him try mangoes – and the fruit delighted him.

Today, Mango, a fast fashion chain present in 115 markets, with revenues of around 2.69 billion euros (R$ 14.9 billion) and one of the biggest rivals of the also Spanish Zara, is about to be sold again in Brazil, now at the hands of online fashion retailer Dafiti. The casual clothing brand’s online store will officially open this Monday (13th), with a digital campaign.

Ten years ago, in January 2013, Mango closed its last physical store in the country, in Rio. After adding just over a dozen stores, he gave up on continuing in Brazil, complaining about bureaucracy and import taxes. The Spanish retailer tried to embark on online sales, but the lack of familiarity of the Brazilian with the modality at the time did not help the plans.

In 2023, after the pandemic forced consumers to expand their digital consumption, including fashion, Dafiti is betting that the endeavor will be successful.

“Dafiti is interested in being part of an international fashion group, which offers a strategic assortment, complementary to the brands we already offer in the country”, said Fábio Fadel, general director of Dafiti in Brazil. It was the Brazilian who looked for the Spaniard about nine months ago, to start a partnership. Dafiti will be responsible for curating the pieces in Brazil.

The online fashion retailer, which also has operations in Argentina, Colombia and Chile, already works exclusively in the country with international brands Forever 21 (youth fashion), GAP (basic fashion) and Ralph Lauren (accessories and luxury).

Mango will be a “premium entry brand”, according to Fadel, aimed at mature women from the A and B classes, willing to pay around BRL 300, on average, per piece (the collection has models from BRL 150 to BRL $500). What will already be a challenge for Dafiti, judging by the data from the Webshoppers 47 report prepared by NielsenIQ Ebit and obtained exclusively by Sheet.

According to the survey, in 2022, the average ticket spent in the fashion and accessories category in Brazil was BRL 192, up 9% over the BRL 176 in 2021 (nominal values). The category accounted for 4% of gross sales from e-commerce last year, equivalent to R$ 10.5 billion. This data does not consider foreign online retailers (crossborders), such as Shein, which has become a sales phenomenon in Brazil.

Last year, the Asian retailer generated queues at the two pop-up stores it opened in São Paulo and Rio. For this year, she promises new temporary points of sale. Competition with the popular Shein, which offers fast fashion at aggressive prices, should not bother Mango, in Fadel’s opinion.

“Shein’s customers are looking for clothes with some fashion information, which ends up being easily replaced”, says the executive. “The Mango customer, on the other hand, doesn’t want anything so perishable and seasonal and pays for higher quality items.”

In the e-commerce billing ranking, the fashion and accessories category fell from sixth to seventh place in 2022, behind the categories of home appliances, telephony, home and decoration, information technology, electronics and sports/leisure. In the ranking of number of orders, the category fell from fourth to sixth position, behind perfumery and cosmetics, home and decoration, food and beverages, health and home appliances.

According to the Webshoppers report, women account for 77% of online orders in the fashion and accessories category. In 2022, 63% of orders for fashion and accessories started on social media or search engines. It is not by chance that around two thirds of orders were made via cell phone.

Fadel, formerly from Pernambuco, believes that the pandemic has helped Brazilians get used to buying via Instagram and WhatsApp. There has been a slowdown in online shopping over the last year, with the strongest return to physical stores, but now the trend is for the customer to settle “between both worlds.”

“We lived the digital bubble, then we had the strong return to the physical, now we are going to explore the best of the two sales channels”, he says.

At first, Mango pieces will be offered only to the female public, in ten interest-free installments – the same condition adopted for all brands sold by Dafiti. “Depending on the result, we are going to bring a men’s and children’s collection as well”, says Fadel.

In Brazil, there will only be the importation of Mango pieces. For now, the agreement between Dafiti and the Spanish brand does not contemplate the local production of pieces, which is already adopted with Forever 21. The young fashion brand closed its physical stores in Brazil last year – the same time that Dafiti started to market the brand in the online environment.