From seller to marketplace: Carlos Cantoni on Vertbaudet’s dual-growth strategy

Vertbaudet as a brand and marketplace operator

Founded in 1963, Vertbaudet has evolved into Europe’s leading pure-player in children’s fashion and family lifestyle. With over 60 years of heritage supporting families from birth up to 16 years old, spanning core categories from babycare and nursery furniture to fashion, toys, and lifestyle, the French retailer operates a digital-first model serving more than 3 million active customers across Europe (Vertbaudet, 2026). With over 125 million annual website visits (Vertbaudet, 2026), the brand has built a loyal and highly engaged audience. Vertbaudet’s audience is also known for very low returns, which is a great reward for their strong customer brand relationship.

To capture growing European demand while safeguarding customer trust, Vertbaudet combines multi-channel distribution on external platforms with its own selective marketplace. Powered by Mirakl, Vertbaudet’s marketplace operates as a curated platform since 2023, offering international brands access to their audience in France and Germany.

Insights into Vertbaudet’s dual e-commerce strategy

We sat down with Carlos Cantoni, Marketplace Director at Vertbaudet, to get the behind the scene insights for you. We asked Carlos how that strategy came together, what learnings they had, and what it means to run a marketplace while also selling on one.

You’ve been Marketplace Director at Vertbaudet since the beginning of 2023, so it’s already been nearly 4 years. Before that, you spent 8 years at La Redoute, including several years as Head of Account Management for their marketplace. What drew you to the world of marketplaces in the first place?

Carlos Cantoni: My career in marketplaces actually started almost 20 years ago, with six years at Rakuten, followed by eight years at La Redoute, and now at Vertbaudet since 2023. What attracted me from the beginning was the combination of retail, technology and business development. Marketplaces bring all these elements together, and there’s always something new happening.

Working at Rakuten, La Redoute and now Vertbaudet has given me the opportunity to experience very different marketplace models, from a major international platform to a more specialised, selective marketplace. What I enjoy most today is building and developing a business, working with brands and partners, and exploring new opportunities in international markets. And after all these years, I still find it exciting because there are always new opportunities and challenges.

For anyone who doesn’t know Vertbaudet yet, what’s the brand about?

Carlos Cantoni: Vertbaudet is a well-known French brand specialising in products for babies, children and families. We’ve been part of French family life for many years, and we have a strong and loyal customer base. Our offer covers children from birth up to 16 years old, including clothing, shoes, sportswear, furniture, toys and many other categories. This means that we support families through different stages of their children’s lives, from their first baby products to clothing and accessories for teenagers.

Our marketplace is a natural extension of this. It allows us to introduce new brands and expand our product range while keeping the quality and trust that customers expect from Vertbaudet. We’re also quite selective about the brands we work with. Our goal is not to have millions of products, but to offer the right products for our customers.

For brands, including fashion, footwear, sports and lifestyle brands, Vertbaudet is a great opportunity to reach an established customer base in France and Germany, through a trusted French retailer.

About three years ago, Vertbaudet became a marketplace itself. What triggered that decision?

Carlos Cantoni: The starting point was quite simple: our customers were already coming to Vertbaudet for their children’s needs, but we couldn’t necessarily offer everything they were looking for. The marketplace gave us the opportunity to expand our assortment, introduce new categories and work with brands that complement our own products. It also allows us to react more quickly to trends and customer demand without having to manage inventory for every product.

When I joined Vertbaudet in 2023, the challenge was to take that opportunity and turn it into a scalable business, with the right technology, the right partners and a clear commercial strategy. But from the beginning, we wanted to be selective.

For me, having a successful marketplace isn’t about having millions of products. It’s about offering the right products, from the right brands, to the right customers.

Being both a seller on other channels and a marketplace yourself: how do the two roles influence each other? Has running your own marketplace changed how you work with the channels you sell on?

Carlos Cantoni: I think being on both sides is a real advantage. As a marketplace operator, we work with sellers every day, helping them develop their business, improve their product visibility and manage their performance.

But we are also a seller ourselves, on platforms like Zalando, Amazon and other European marketplaces. So we face many of the same challenges as our partners. We know how important it is to have clear processes, good communication and the right support from a marketplace.

It also helps us understand what sellers need. When we make decisions about our own marketplace, we can look at things from their perspective as well. And when it comes to international development, this experience is particularly useful because every marketplace and every country works a little differently.

How has Tradebyte supported you as a seller while you were building out your own marketplace?

Carlos Cantoni: Tradebyte has been an important partner in our international development, particularly with Zalando, which is a strategic marketplace for Vertbaudet. Selling on different marketplaces across Europe can be quite complex. Each platform has its own requirements, and Tradebyte helps us manage these integrations and develop our presence in new platforms.

What’s interesting today is that our relationship is developing in both directions. We use Tradebyte to sell Vertbaudet products on external marketplaces, but we are now also connected to their ecosystem as a marketplace operator. This means that brands already working with Tradebyte can more easily join Vertbaudet in France and Germany.

Another important development is our recent connection with ZEOS, Zalando’s fulfilment solution. Brands already using ZEOS can now also use this solution to fulfil orders from our marketplace, following the necessary onboarding steps.

I think this is a great opportunity, especially for international brands looking to develop their business in France and Germany without having to build everything from scratch.

You have a very loyal customer base and strong conversion. What makes families come back?

Carlos Cantoni: I think the main reason is trust. Vertbaudet has been part of French family life since 1963, so we have a long history with families and a strong relationship with our customers. Today, we have 3 million active customers across Europe and with around 125 million visits to our websites. These figures show how strong our customer base is.

One of our advantages is that we support families through different stages of their children’s lives, from birth to 16 years old. Customers can come to us for baby products, clothing, shoes, toys, furniture and many other categories. And that’s also what makes our marketplace attractive for brands. They can reach a large and loyal customer base that already knows and trusts Vertbaudet.

Of course, the challenge for us is to maintain that trust as we introduce new brands and products. That’s why we are selective about the sellers we work with and the quality of the products we offer.

Your return rates are very low, especially for fashion. Can you share what’s behind that?

Carlos Cantoni: I think a big part of it comes from our experience in children’s fashion and how well we know our customers. We’ve been working in this market for many years, so we understand the importance of sizing, product quality and clear product information.

When customers buy online, especially clothing or shoes for their children, they need to know exactly what they’re ordering. That’s why we pay a lot of attention to product descriptions, images and the quality of the information displayed on our website.

And we apply the same expectations to our marketplace sellers. For me, good product information is not just about making a product look attractive. It helps customers make the right choice, and that naturally contributes to fewer returns.

You’ve helped take the Vertbaudet marketplace from France to Germany. Where’s it headed next in Europe? Any spoilers you can share with us?

Carlos Cantoni: Germany was an important step for us, and it gives us a good base to continue developing our marketplace internationally. Spain and Portugal are also markets we are interested in, and they’re part of our plans.

But opening a marketplace in a new country is not just about connecting sellers and listing products. You need to understand the local market, customer expectations, pricing and delivery requirements. From my experience working with different marketplaces over the years, I know how important it is to adapt to each market.

For now, we also see a lot of opportunities in France and Germany. We want to continue attracting new brands, developing our product range and making it easier for international sellers to work with us.

Our objective is to continue growing Vertbaudet as a trusted destination for families, while becoming an increasingly attractive partner for brands looking to develop their business in Europe