The target is an eCommerce Retail Unicorn in the Womens Fashion space. The Founders of this incredible business have used the power of Social Media to create an Internet Juggernaut in its category, achieving massive scale in its 4.5 years of existence. They have built their Social Media following to 1.6M Followers on Facebook, 340,000 Followers on Instagram and over 400,000 opt-in email subscribers. Engagements per Post on Instagram alone are 4,500 and up! Through these efforts, and a smart SEM strategy, the company achieves strong margins through a powerful marketing platform, 100% focused on the U.S. Female Demographic.
This online retailer has become a solid platform by which to launch new products and assortments for women in search for trendy, cutting edge fashion. Operating a fully branded line of women’s clothing, shoes and accessories with 2,500 to 3,000 SKUs via their custom-developed website, this particular company has something that very few other online retailers have achieved – virtually zero SKU concentration. No specific product sold by this company represents more than 2% of sales – an astonishing feat when compared to the vast majority of other retailers in this category. Additionally, average order value is around $70.00 per order, which has helped to maintain strong margins in the business.
Another big value proposition for this business – it has been built for growth. The company operates out of a custom-built warehouse (that is currently being expanded to deal with the company’s massive scale) and employs over 40 people (35 full time and 5 part time). The employees include buyers, photographers, marketing personnel, customer service, website development, management, HR and warehouse associates. Very few online retailers have built redundancy, human capital and growth capabilities into their company, but this one has excelled in this arena – this despite only selling on its branded website. No sales currently occur off of the website, which means a savvy buyer would be able to accelerate sales quickly by expanding the business onto the Amazon platform and its ever expanding reach across the world. Selling wholesale to boutiques and retailers is also a big opportunity for those with skills in B&M – the company is on the cutting edge of fashion,
and with its massive social media following, we believe that wholesale distribution can be a big near term play for the company.
In summary, this business is very special and deserves a growth multiple. It sits in a highly sought-after space (women’s fashion) targeting the lucrative female demographic, it achieves around 4,500 engagements per post on Instagram and it has been built from the ground up to achieve scale. A buyer for this company can use this business as a platform to both accelerate sales for this business, but also to bolt on additional brands and use the power of the Following to drive sales.
The company’s founders are willing (and prefer) to remain with the business for a period of time after a sale because they remain committed to their vision of making this a truly enterprise-level fashion business; therefore, a buyer of this company can use both the platform built, as well as the skills and experience of the founders, to continue to achieve scale.
