Estimated reading time: 9 Min
Someone Somewhere It is one of those brands that have a soul. Not only do they make impeccable quality products, but behind them, there is a social proposal and philosophy of life.
This brand is committed to promoting the ancient talent of Mexican indigenous communities to create sustainable, durable and environmentally responsible fashion. It is fashion that is good for those who produce it, that is good for those who consume it and that is good for the planet. That's why it was an honor to talk to Alejandro Ramos, Supply Chain Manager of Someone Somewhere, to learn a little bit about its history.
From a bazaar to globalization
Frank: Let's start at the beginning, Alejandro, where was he born? Someone Somewhere?
Alexander: Someone Somewhere The brand is about five years old. The founders first called it Flor de Mayo, about 10 years ago.
Frank: And who are the founders?
Alexander: Enrique Rodríguez, Fatima Álvarez and Antonio Nuño. Even though they were Tec students, they started this project in the third semester of their careers and the products that were made were mostly shirts with handmade embroidered collars and cuffs.
Frank: And why the name change? Flor de Mayo sounds more artisanal.
Alexander: Yes. But precisely, after five years they decide to reach a larger, more international market, and that's why the name is changed.
Frank: Does this name have a strong meaning that matches your brand identity and concept, right?
Alexander: That's the way it is. Someone it's because of the artisans who make our products and Somewhere of the place where those who work with us live and learned their art. Both of these things are important to us. Our products are the product of hands that have experienced a culture, a tradition, a history. That is why they are not industrially produced garments, but are born of someone, of Someone, and what that place and that culture represents, that Somewhere.
Frank: And were they always? ecommerce or are they born as a physical business?
Alexander: Flor de Mayo was first a physical business that was carried out in university bazaars and in small bazaars in Mexico City. AND Someone Somewhere Also, it started physically with a first store in Mexico City and now we have three. In the digital section, the ecommerce we started it a year ago and started selling in the United States and Canada, and the idea is in the future to be able to open markets to Latin America and Central America and then to the rest of the world with the facilities that the ecommerce.
A vision of the world and a business mission
One of the characteristics that best define this brand is its powerful message. Someone Somewhere It doesn't sell you a t-shirt, it sells you a story. And that story has to be aligned with a way of seeing the world, or else, it wouldn't make sense.
Frank: Let's talk a little bit about your mission. Because this is not the typical fashion that we can find in big fashion brands, right?
Alexander: No. And that can be seen from the mission of Someone Somewhere, which is to help artisans to generate greater opportunities, not only economically with work, but also to generate a value chain that guarantees them constant work all year round and that they can continue to grow with us and have more opportunities.
Social conscience, from Mexico to the world
“The mission of Someone Somewhere is to help these vulnerable communities, who are part of an incredible world of unique handicrafts that exist in Mexico, and to be able to bring that talent to the rest of the world.”
Frank: Do you think that with tools like the ecommerce have these artisans been able to reach places where it would have been impossible before?
Alexander: Yes, totally. Without the ecommerce many of those communities, their craftsmanship to be precise, could not be brought to the United States or Canada or any nation in the world.
Frank: And how do you ensure that these products are of quality? Because the leap to the global, it's hard, is exposing yourself to the eyes of the planet
Alexander: Well, a part that we have in Someone Somewhere is the virtuous triangle of the brand: with each product we seek to combine design, impact and functionality. By functionality, we mean that our products can help people with their daily lives. Make it useful. For example, in the case of backpacks that have the right amount of compartments for the people who want to use them, and that the garments are as resistant as possible to also avoid issues of waste, which in the end are problems of contamination. We seek to avoid fast-fashion.
Frank: A complete commitment to a responsible lifestyle at all levels. Is this type of target also the one you are looking for among your buyers?
Alexander: Our target is global youth markets, who can enjoy these garments and also value them for everything they are: at the level of craftsmanship and also at the level of the declaration of principles and values they represent, being garments that do good to the artisan, because they give a way of life, a good to the user, because they have high quality and finally a good for the environment because they are products that respect nature and also created to last. They are not disposable fashion.
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Preserving the ancient technique
“We want to bring to the world the handicrafts that are made in Mexico with our indigenous communities. We want these ancient techniques not to be lost. And that we can take them around the world.”
Our target is young people aged 25 to 40 who are concerned about traveling, about nature and about making conscious purchases. That is our ideal person.
With Cubbo to conquer the world!
For Someone Somewhere being able to get rid of logistics was key. A brand with so much potential and with such a strong experiential component needs to dedicate itself to what is truly profitable for it: dominate your shoppers' experience.
Therefore, the alliance with Cubbo It fit perfectly for Someone Somewhere.
Frank: Where do you currently sell?
Alexander: Today we have a presence in Mexico, the United States and Canada. If we have had some B2B sales in Europe, few, but we have already had that approach to that part of the world.
Frank: I imagine that the choice of the United States and Canada has been comfortable for them with the T-Mec.
Alexander: Well look at the subject of T-MEC at e-commerce It helps us a lot because it reduces our taxes and they are only paid after 800 dollars. And in the ecommerce most purchases don't reach that figure - I wish they would - but they go below. In Canada, the ceiling is lower and if we have had cases of customers who have had to pay. But few.
Frank: And the logistics in the United States, how do they manage it? That's where I think comes the reason why they're with Cubbo Right?
Alexander: That's the way it is. When we launched the brand in the United States, we worked with a Fulfillment Center there and although we were doing well operationally, it is true that the cost was very high because renting space is much more expensive in the United States, in addition to the fact that transportation is also more expensive. And well, if we add to that our products have a high volumetric weight - backpacks for example - and then that made the operation more expensive.
That was where Cubbo He gave us the solution with international shipping and this allowed us to make two very important improvements to the brand. The first is to be able to consolidate the inventory. We used to have two inventories, one for the United States and one for Mexico. So the supply issue in this part, being able to consolidate it, was an improvement because inventory control was previously complicated.
Now we have all the consolidated inventory with Cubbo and that allows us better planning.
And the second improvement was that also, although it seems hard to believe, It was much cheaper for us to send the products from Mexico than to have them in the United States.
That reduced our costs by at least 15% to 20%. It's strange, but that's the way it is. It is cheaper to ship from Mexico to the United States than from the United States itself.
Frank: And how did they come to Cubbo?
Alexander: We met Cubbo in a very curious way. We were just making the plan to change our logistics operator, because before we worked with another one who was more specialized in large assortments for pallets and boxes and not so much in ecommerce for customers, which is by parts, and well, we didn't have the technology with this supplier to implement everything with our Shopify store, which is where we have the ecommerce.
I met them thanks to my girlfriend who received an order for Cubbo, by another brand that also works with them, and that's how I met them. I realized that they answered everything, that they served the customer and that they made it very easy to track guides and because of that experience we looked for them and I had contact with Josu.
With two conversations we had, we realized that they had a lot of experience and that they had already approached the brand before and so, everything closed.
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Frank: At the level Logistic What are the plans for the future?
Alexander: Well, in the future our objective in terms of logistics and sales channels Is it to be able to open our ecommerce to everyone. Next year we want to open South and Central America.
Frank: Are the countries already chosen?
Alexander: We are still deciding but we understand that a market very similar to the Mexican one is Colombia, and then we would go to Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Because they are the largest markets with the most potential at the level ecommerce.
And the truth is that with Cubbo's international shipping facilities, this has opened many doors for us to begin to consider global growth.
The idea we have today is to do the entire operation from Mexico and make all the shipments from here with Cubbo. This is how we maintain the consolidated inventory.
Frank: I understand then that all the Fulfillment they do it with Cubbo Right?
Alexander: Correct. Cubbo took the full fulfillment from us. We've outsourced everything to them. And this has helped us a lot, because we don't have the muscle to do that today. And it has helped us to improve internal processes because with Cubbo We have been able to do a lot automations in Shopify, which is the platform that we use.
I didn't know much about the subject of Fulfillment Center but now I understand that the biggest differences with Cubbo The thing is that they are super specialized in ecommerce and in assortments by pieces. We work practically pure ecommerce so ideal, but in addition, the restocking part of our physical stores, we also ask for it at Cubbo and we were able to do it. With which, it has been excellent and we have adapted very well.
Frank: At the brand level, what has been the biggest challenge you have faced?
Alexander: The biggest challenge has been finding the product fit market and we are still working on that: developing products that fall into that virtuous triangle that we call. And then now we're expanding into new markets.
Frank: Alejandro Do you dare to give advice to an entrepreneur who is reading us and who wants to start selling artisanal products in Latin America?
Alexander: A piece of advice I would give you... The main thing is that you have a good sales platform. Which is, in the end, the first thing the customer sees. Perhaps it is not necessary to have the best product in the world, but a product that is suitable for what you are looking for and supported by an excellent sales platform.
And by that I mean so much customer service such as logistics operations. Because in the world of ecommerce, those are the only points of real physical contact between the brand and the customer.
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