With #ParisFounders New York Edition coming up on October 28th, we wanted to catch up with our #PFE Alumni from the last edition to gain some valuable feedback on the event and to keep track of their progress. For these reasons, we reached out to
cabin(e), the on-demand shopping service for designer shoes that launched on Dauphine’s stage last July. How does cabin(e) work? Simply connect on the site and choose several pairs of shoes among the best designer brands and a “chausseur privé” will deliver them at your door in one hour. The service is totally free, with the exception of the shoes you wish to keep, you will need to pay for those.
Cabin(e) dedicated CEO and founder is not new to the high-end e-commerce business. Alexis Frerejean is in fact also co-founder of the already five years old high-quality stocking business OhMySocks. Keeping this in mind, we were exciting to get some updates on cabin(e) and his experience at
Paris Founders.
How did you come up with the idea?
About a year ago, I came home on a Friday night and found my wife, in our living room surrounded by six shoe boxes. I kind of freaked out but she told me that she bought them on Zalando, she would try them during the weekend, and send back the ones she didn’t like on Monday. She ended up sending all of them back. So I thought, is this the best experience online retailers can offer both on the business side and on the customer one? I didn’t believe so. Nowadays, only 6% of every pair of shoes is sold online. Either online shopping in fashion was a dead end, or we had to find a better experience to meet customers expectancies online. Our vision at cabin(e) is that, like in other verticals such as Taxis, TV, etc… there is a huge demand for on-demand shopping service.
What challenges are you facing and how do you plan to overcome them?
Like any e-commerce website, we have to offer a wide range of products. We need to convince more and more cool designers brand to work with us. And obviously, our main both value challenge is our logistic. That’s why we are really proud to announce that Christophe Pasquier is joining our team as a co-founder to manage this key part of our business model.
What happened to cabin(e) following your pitch at Paris Founders Event?
First of all, to pitch at the Paris Founders was a great opportunity to challenge our business model, both internally and with other stakeholders.
We have been contacted by several potential investors, which is exactly why we applied to the event in the first place.
How did PFE help you?
As said, PFE was a great opportunity to work on our business model but also on our communication skills, which are essential features for a startup founder. We gained in confidence but also in exposure. I can only advise other entrepreneurs to pitch at those events.
What is cabin(e) up to at the moment? Any big project you’re working on?
Obviously, we are preparing for a big Christmas rush. This will be the occasion for us to strengthen our logistics skills and to show a real traction in our metrics. But we are also starting a roadshow in two weeks to raise 200k€ that will allow us to strengthen our infrastructure (both online and offline) and our team to sustain our growth.
See five new products launch on stage at #PFENY – join us for our special Fall edition on October 28th! Tickets are limited so you’d better grab yours now!
