Spreadshirt ramps up internationalization strategy with expansion to South America

BOSTON, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Spreadshirt, the global print-on-demand e-commerce platform for apparel and accessories, accelerates its international reach with the acquisition of Vitrinepix, the online pioneer for print on demand in Brazil. The acquisition builds upon Spreadshirt's recent scale up success in the USA. Vitrinepix, founded in 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, will operate as a Spreadshirt subsidiary.

Spreadshirt's entry into the Brazilian market, marks a keen strategic move for the Leipzig-based e-commerce company, with U.S. headquarters in Boston, and production facilities in Greensburg, PA and Henderson, NV substantially increases the company's reach and market potential for all global sellers.

"Internationalization is a central theme for Spreadshirt in 2014 as we are hyper focused on opening up new markets for all of our buyers and sellers," said Spreadshirt CEO, Philip Rooke. "We are very pleased that Vitrinepix founder, Viviane Mendes, will take the lead of our subsidiary in Brazil as we win a trusted local partner. She is extremely familiar with the Brazilian e-commerce market after 18 years and a true expert in marketing and business development. Our partners and sellers operate globally with clients, supporters, and fans in Brazil. This endeavor enables everyone to market ideas in this important and evolving market."

With this acquisition, Spreadshirt gains a significant presence in one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and has about 100 million online users, with one-third of the total population shopping for online apparel and accessories. In the Latin American market, Brazil is the leader in the online purchase of clothing with notable stats:

• The fashion & accessories segment rose in the top-selling e-commerce categories rankings within a period of two years—from 26^th to 1^st.
• The country's e-commerce growth rates are anticipated to be around 15 percent.

General Manager Viviane Mendes adds: "This acquisition is not only very important for Vitrinepix' growth, but to consolidate the whole Brazilian print-on-demand market. With Spreadshirt, we will expand our product portfolio, improve our IT-infrastructure, and open many new possibilities to our partners." Mendes continues: "In the foreseeable future we will also make larger improvements in production. All orders from Brazil will be manufactured in Brazil. We are very pleased to have the leading e-commerce platform guiding us with its global expertise." The website of the Brazilian print-on-demand pioneer will continue under the old name and domain during the initial transition.

In addition to the strategy of acquiring a strong local presence in growing markets, Spreadshirt also pursues global expansion via the acquisition of appropriate online presences and domains. Spreadshirt expects to launch top-level domains in Canada and Australia during Q3 of 2014. The scale up allows the company to deliver to customers and sellers in over 200 countries for unsurpassed reach while maintaining a regional connection.

About Spreadshirt
Spreadshirt, an e-commerce platform for print-on-demand apparel and accessories, is a global leader and industry pacesetter.  Anyone from individuals and businesses to teams and organizations can easily create, share, buy and sell their ideas on over 150 different products across many points of sale. Spreadshirt's unique 4-in-1 business model offers four areas to display or buy a product: Create Your Own, Spreadshirt's and other online marketplaces, white-label online stores, and Spreadshirt's unsurpassed API fulfillment technology. Spreadshirt has over 70,000 active sellers including such notable partners as Dr Pepper, Groupon and the Reeve Foundation.

Founded in 2002, Spreadshirt is active in seventeen markets, available in nine languages, and operates four global production sites: one in Germany, one in Poland and two in the United States. In 2013, Spreadshirt hit global revenue of approximately $95 million, printed more than 3.3 million articles, and shipped to more than forty countries. The Spreadshirt family also includes Yink, a provider of high volume, customized promotional textile printing.

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SOURCE Spreadshirt