About Sitano
Founded in September 2021 by Mary Scott Jameson and Merrill Horridge, Sitano (opens in a new tab) is a women's resort wear brand in the United States. After building early momentum through direct-to-consumer sales, the brand strategically shifted its focus to wholesale, which now accounts for approximately 70% of total revenue. Today, Sitano's collections are carried across roughly 100 boutiques and resort destinations, including Sea Island and St. Bernard.
15–20 days
Time to go live on Nordstrom
$125k
GMV in first 6 months without new headcount
22%
Gross sales from marketplace in 6 months, up from 0% in 2025
The challenge: Breaking into premium retail without betting the business
For a growing brand like Sitano the next logical move was entering premium retail. But the traditional path, pitching buyers, holding inventory against purchase orders and hoping it sold, wasn't a viable option for a two-person team still building its financial foundation.
The marketplace model offered a different path: Sitano could sell existing inventory on a major retail platform without buying new stock upfront. However, the operational challenge remaining was integrating with a retailer like Nordstrom (opens in a new tab) quickly and cost-effectively, with no dedicated tech team, no logistics infrastructure and no prior marketplace experience.
At that stage of the business, committing to large inventory buys felt like a big risk. The marketplace model meant we could work with the inventory we already had — it could only benefit us.
Merrill Horridge, co-founder, Sitano
Why Sitano chose Mirakl Connect
After evaluating multiple marketplace integration providers, Sitano selected Mirakl Connect (opens in a new tab) for its ease of integration and quality of onboarding support.
Three capabilities stood out:
- Native Shopify integration: The platform connected directly to Sitano's existing store without requiring a custom technical solution, eliminating the need for developer resources.
- Catalog control before go-live: Using Mirakl Connect's Catalog Transformer, Sitano can review and adjust product data to ensure it met Nordstrom's specific listing requirements before syncing, keeping catalog management manageable for a small team.
- Dedicated onboarding support: Mirakl Connect's onboarding team provided hands-on guidance throughout the process, helping Sitano go live efficiently.
The easiest part is that Mirakl Connect plugs directly into our Shopify store. From there, we review the product data within the platform, adjust anything that needs to align with Nordstrom's requirements, and it syncs. The whole process is seamless.
Merrill Horridge, co-founder, Sitano
The results: New revenue channel launched in under 3 weeks with zero additional headcount
By launching on Nordstrom, Sitano has opened a new premium retail channel without adding operational complexity or inventory risk.
The results across speed, efficiency and revenue demonstrate what marketplace expansion can look like for an emerging brand at this stage of growth:
- Speed to market: Sitano completed onboarding and went live in under three weeks. The Shopify integration automated the majority of catalog setup, reducing manual effort significantly.
- Sales performance: The brand generated 22% of gross sales from marketplace within the first 6 months, with 50 to 75 styles listed, exceeding its own projections despite typically higher return rates at major department stores.
- Lean operations: The entire Nordstrom marketplace channel is managed alongside existing DTC and wholesale operations with no additional headcount. Returns logistics are handled by a specialist third-party partner, freeing the team to focus on growth.
- A repeatable expansion model: The Nordstrom launch has validated a scalable approach to marketplace expansion, with additional channels already under evaluation.
Sales have exceeded our expectations — we've seen strong order volume since launch. We interviewed several providers before choosing Mirakl Connect, and it's a decision we haven't looked back on. The onboarding process was easy, it took 15 to 20 days, and the experience has been exactly what we needed as a growing brand.
Merrill Horridge, co-founder, Sitano
What's next for Sitano
Sitano's experience reflects a broader shift in how independent brands can approach major retailer distribution.
The marketplace model, supported by a platform purpose-built for seller onboarding and catalog management, has made entry to major retailers accessible for teams of any size.
With a proven integration process in place, Sitano is now looking to expand its marketplace presence. The brand is actively evaluating additional premium retail channels, with plans to add new marketplaces in the near future.
Mirakl Connect provides the infrastructure to onboard each new channel efficiently, without adding operational overhead.
