Sales soar at fashion etailer Sosandar

Sosandar, the newly AIM-listed fashion etailer, soared by 268% to circa £1.34m in the year to 31 March 2018 it revealed in a trading statement today.

The business, which was founded in 2016 by two former magazine publishing experts, is positioned as a destination for women who have grown out of the young fast-fashion etailers and has garnered a strong celebrity and influencer following.

It said its sales growth was driven by investment in a variety of new marketing channels, the most successful of which had been direct mail. It also grew its social media following with a growth in Facebook and Instagram following of 181% and 888% respectively.

Since the Company's admission to AIM last November, it has expanded its product range and increased the quantity of stock ordered in commercially proven product lines. It said that customers had responded well to the "unique in-house designs across all categories from dresses, skirts and tops to leather and footwear".

Margin improvements have been achieved through both the economies of scale from increased order quantities and a higher proportion of sales from product sold at full price. Gross margin for the financial year 2018 is expected to be at 49.3%.

The business said it was achieving return levels (44.8%) roughly in line with industry averages, despite being an early stage business, and that it had reduced the cost of acquiring new customers through cost reductions and response rate improvements driven by increased data analytics, which has helped to better target new customers.

In the 12-month period it fulfilled 31,732 orders with an average basket value of £94.18 while its website received some 1.47m visits.

"We are delighted with the progress the business has made over the year to 31 March 2018. As a company early in its development, we are focused on increasing brand awareness and new customer acquisition and our KPIs show strong growth in these areas. It is particularly pleasing that we recorded our highest monthly sales figure in March 2018 (which was subsequently beaten by a further 32% growth in April 2018), demonstrating that our business is less seasonal than peers, and the speed at which we are growing," said joint CEOs Julie Lavington and Ali Hall.

"Sosandar's unique positioning and affordable, quality products are attracting a growing fanbase of repeat customers, as well as a plethora of celebrities and fashion influencers who choose to wear our clothes repeatedly. We are constantly refining the efficiency of our marketing spend, and beginning to benefit from improved margins as we increase our minimum order size. This momentum has continued into the new financial year, and we look forward to updating the market further at full year results," they added.