Earlier this year, Nordstrom announced that it planned to spend $150 million on boosting its e-commerce infrastructure, part of a larger effort by the Seattle retailer to capture shoppers as they increasingly move online. Today, Nordstrom is adding to its arsenal, announcing that it is leading a $16.4 million investment in five-year-old men’s online fashion startup Bonobos.
As part of the deal, Nordstrom will begin carrying clothing from Bonobos at its retail stores.
The New York Times has more on the deal and what it means, interviewing Nordstrom.com boss Jamie Nordstrom.
“We’ve been thinking about where growth is going to come from across all retail over the next 10 years,” Nordstrom tells the Times. “And certainly square-footage growth is not where that growth is coming from.”
In other words, look for more investment online, not as many new brick-and-mortar stores.
Nordstrom has already been expanding its footprint online, testing things like the “Nordstrom Santa” social media campaign this past December. It is also testing mobile point-of-sale systems in store, part of a plan to speed up check out. Last year, the retailer acquired private sales site HauteLook for $180 million.
New York’s Bonobos started in 2007 at Stanford with the goal of selling “better-fitting pants over the Internet.” It raised an $18.5 million venture round in 2010 from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Accel Partners.
