Citing the impact the COVID-19 crisis has had in shuttering shoe and clothing stores worldwide, the Assocalzaturifici Italiani has inked a partnership with Brandsdistribution, a drop ship firm that is launching a multichannel platform in BDroppy that will offer footwear brands another avenue to sell online to make their products accessible to millions of consumers in 50-plus countries, including the U.S. and across Europe.

Currently, Brandsdistribution has more than 450,000 retailers registered worldwide, gets more than 1.2 million views yearly and generates more than 100 million euros in annual sales. The 14-year-old b2b company, which currently sells more than 120 brands and has more than 500,000 products available for instant delivery, offers worldwide shipping and customer care in eight languages.

“At the present moment, the survival of [the] sector and of the ‘Made-in-Italy’ fashion industry as a whole depends inevitably on the new platforms,” Siro Badon, Chair of Assocalzaturfici, said. “Today’s retailers have to face up to the fact that they can no longer limit themselves to only providing a tactile, in-store sales experience, but must be able to offer remote access to products and information as well. The technology is even more important at the present moment since it can help dispose of excess stock that has accumulated as a result of the [COVID-19] lockdown.”

Both companies and retailers can apply to join BDroppy. The Italian company assesses products and ability of brands to efficiently manage orders and shipments before entering them into its catalogue and connecting them to thousands of drop shippers worldwide and the public via online marketplaces.