Nordstrom

Nordstrom operates a hybrid retail-platform model. It buys and sells merchandise directly through stores and digital channels, using brand curation, customer service, and omni-channel fulfilment as core value drivers. It extends this model through a marketplace that broadens assortment without taking full inventory risk on every item, and through a retail media network that monetises shopper traffic and first-party commerce data for brand advertisers.

Nordstrom is a US department store and digital retail company focused on apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and related lifestyle products. Its core commercial operations span full-price Nordstrom stores, the off-price Nordstrom Rack banner, and a scaled e-commerce business. The company also operates a digital marketplace that extends assortment through third-party sellers and a retail media offering that sells advertising access to brand partners using its shopper audience and commerce data.

The business makes money primarily through merchandise sales and retail gross margin, supplemented by commissions or take-rates from marketplace activity and advertising revenue from Nordstrom Media Network. Its paying customers are consumers shopping premium and off-price fashion, as well as brand partners and merchants that use Nordstrom’s marketplace and media capabilities to reach shoppers and drive sales.