Hotter nabs John Lewis listing as online strategy advances

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 20, 2021

Hotter shoes continues to reshape itself and on Monday said it has secured “a prestigious partnership” with John Lewis as part of its online strategy.

It’s the comfort footwear brand’s third partnership in the last three months, following on from its launches with Boohoo Group’s Debenhams unit and Zalando.

The John Lewis deal will see it start selling shoes on the department store’s website from next month as it works to reach a larger number of its core 55+ age group customers.

The selection available via John Lewis will include a curated selection of both women’s and men’s Hotter shoes.

Hotter already sells 1.3 million pairs of shoes worldwide a year and says it currently reaches 29% of the female population in Britain in its target age group.

It used to do this mainly via mail order and its stores. But the closure of most stores and a heavy focus on digital has seen it transforming the way it does business. That digital focus originally took in its own webstore but has seen third-party websites and marketplaces rising to prominence in its plans too. It’s now seeking to underpin further growth by securing strategic partnerships with still more well-known complementary brands.

In July, it relaunched a selected product range on Debenhams.com, after that retailer was acquired by Boohoo earlier in the year. And this month, Hotter launched a partnership with German online giant Zalando, one of the largest global e-tailers, focused on European and UK markets.

Victoria Betts, Chief Commercial Officer at Hotter, said: “John Lewis [is] one of the UK’s best-known and well loved retailers [and] offers fantastic synergy for our combined customer bases. Partnerships are an integral part of our wider growth strategy for 2021 and beyond, as Hotter seeks to work with premium brands which match our brand values and core customer base. Consumers are shopping very differently now, with a heavy reliance on e-commerce; and we expect that trend to continue alongside the re-adjustment of high street shopping, which will be much more experience-led going forward.”

The company said it has made “significant technological investment and will continually work to identify marketplaces which reach new and existing customers. There is no doubt that these channels are here to stay and that they will grow in importance”.