Remi Martini, Sarelly Sarelly | Building the Mexican 'Chanel' of E-Commerce

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Today I spoke with Rémi Martini, cofounder and CEO of Sarelly Sarelly, one of the leading luxury fashion brands in online sales in Mexico. Rémi has more than 10 years of experience in the fashion and beauty industry, working at giants such as L’Oréal, Coty, and Mustela as Commercial and Marketing Director.

Remi founded Sarelly Sarelly in 2022 together with his partner Ana Sarelly, one of the biggest fashion influencers in Mexico with more than 5 million followers, and in its first year it surpassed one million dollars in sales and positive profitability.

Youtube Timestamps*

[6:47] - Direct to Consumer Market

Remi has worked his entire career in the beauty and cosmetics industry, including companies such as Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, L’Oréal, Coty, Mustela, etc.

Could Remi give us a quick class on this business? How does it work, who are the players, and what are the biggest problems? What should someone who is not familiar with that industry understand?

In 2019, Remi joined as CCO of YEMA, a startup that raised significant capital and was part of the wave of Direct to Consumer e-commerce brands in Mexico with a retail presence.

What did Remi learn about e-commerce and retail businesses in this experience? More broadly, for which categories does he believe e-commerce works best, and when is a retail presence necessary (which obviously implies a greater investment)?

After working more than 10 years in beauty, retail, and e-commerce, Remi decided to launch his own company: Sarelly Sarelly.

What limitations did he find in the Direct to Consumer e-commerce model, and how did that influence the business idea for Sarelly Sarelly?
Could Remi tell us about his experience raising capital, and how he thought about financing the business?

[28:45] - How to Work with Content Creators

Most companies think of creators as distribution channels. Remi went one step further and partnered with Anna Sarelly.

What was Remi’s logic for partnering with a content creator as a cofounder of his business? In which scenarios does Remi believe it makes sense to do so, versus working with a creator only for distribution?
Where would Remi say companies usually fail when working with influencers?
How does Remi think about the risks of having a brand tied to a creator? Could this not limit the business’s growth in the future?

[44:35]- How to Start an E-Commerce Brand

Before dedicating himself fully to Sarelly Sarelly, Remi launched 6 Direct to Consumer brands, one of them being Sarelly.

Could Remi explain what his validation method was and, finally, which metrics led him to bet on Sarelly Sarelly?
How does Remi distinguish between a product that truly has demand and one that is only bought because of the creator?

Remi mentioned that they collect 100,000 responses from the audience before launching each product.

What is Remi’s product development philosophy? What role does data play, and what role do creativity or intuition play?
Could Remi tell us about his product strategy and his vision of being the Chanel of Hispanic Gen Z?

[54:25]- How to Grow an E-Commerce Brand

Sarelly Sarelly’s first product was a nopal leather handbag that became a trending topic in Mexico on Twitter. Its launch campaign had quite creative and intentional elements.

What has Remi learned about how to do a great e-commerce launch? What are the necessary ingredients in the campaign?
In e-commerce, what would Remi say is the right moment to start investing in paid marketing?

Direct to consumer brands that focused 100% on online sales have hit growth ceilings. By contrast, a great example is Luuna, which knew how to go omnichannel and has reached enormous scale.

What key variables should Remi evaluate to decide between selling through 100% online channels, versus a combination of online and physical stores?