Boohoo.com
Company type | Retail |
---|---|
Industry | Fashion |
Founded | 2006 |
Headquarters | Dale Street, Manchester , UK |
Area served | UK |
Key people | Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, joint Chief Executives |
Products | Clothing |
Revenue | £580m |
Number of employees | 2175 (Apr 2018) |
Website | www.boohoo.com |
Footnotes / references Twentyfour | Seven | Fashion |
Boohoo.com is a UK-based online fashion retailer, aimed at 16-30 year olds. The business was founded in 2006, and had sales in FY2018 of almost £580m. It specialises in own brand fashion clothing, with over 36,000 products.
History
Boohoo was founded in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, who are joint chief executives[1] and previously supplied high street chains such as Primark and New Look.[2]
Business operations
Chief executive Carol Kane claims Boohoo can differentiate itself from its closest rivals, as all their clothing ranges are own-branded with average prices of £17 as of March 2014,[update][2] comprising 9000 clothing lines. With a primary focus on the 16-24 year old age group, it sells clothing to over 100 countries and as of June 2014[update] had seven major markets, including the UK, the US, and France. Stock is purchased in small quantities of between 300-500 items at a time, with repeat orders typically of 25% on those that sell well.[3] Customers can order items up to midnight for next-day delivery, including on Sunday.[4] Customer numbers increased by 29% throughout 2016-17, up to 5.8 million.[5]
As an online retailer, boohoo utilise social media as an integral part of their marketing strategy. A social media manager was appointed in 2012, with all employees encouraged to assist the social media team by contributing messages and imagery.[6] As of September 2017,[update] boohoo had 4.4m Instagram followers, 0.5m Twitter followers and 3.1m likes on facebook.[5]
Corporate affairs
Boohoo also runs boohooMAN.com, PrettyLittleThing.com and NastyGal.com, all of the brands are targeted at 16-24 year olds.[7] PrettyLittleThing was acquired in December 2016, with the retailer purchasing a 66% stake in the business at a cost of £3.3m, with the existing management team retaining the remaining shares.[8]
During the year up to April 2017, customer browsing from mobile devices accounted for 70% of total sessions, an increase of 4% from the previous year, with downloads of its mobile app across the United Kingdom, United States and Australia totalling around 2.2 million.[4]
Financial performance
In the 10 months to December 2013, boohoo celebrated sales totalling £92m, with a profit before charges of £10m.[2] By February 2014, total sales had reached £110m, with total profits of £11m.[3]
Turnover in the year to February 2015 was £139.9m, an increase of 27% from the previous year, with an increase of gross profit by 31% to £85m.[6]
In April 2017, Boohoo announced that its profits had almost doubled to £31 million on sales up by 51% to almost £300 million.[9] When the company was floated on the stock market in 2014, it was valued at £560m, and is worth about £2 billion as of April 2017.[update][9] Internationally, the retailer suggests its 140% growth to revenue of almost £40m has exceeded expectation, whilst growth in Europe was 44% and 42% for the rest of their international operations.[4]
Strong performance was reported in April 2018, when Boohoo announced almost double revenue from the previous year, up to £580 million, a pre-tax profit of £43.3 million and a 22 percent increase in customers.[10]
Awards
The fashion retailer won the Pure-play Etalier of the Year Award at the 2014 Drapers Awards ceremony, in November 2014.[6]
In November 2017, Boohoo.com was awarded City A.M.'s Business of the Year Award.[11]
References
- ^ "board of directors – boohoo.com plc". Boohooplc.com. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ a b "Boohoo determined not to be another fashion sob story". The Guardian. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "Five strategies that helped boohoo.com grow annual sales by 51%". Internet Retailing. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Boohoo sales rise following investment in technology and the customer experience". Internet Retailing. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "The Drapers Interview: Carol Kane and Mahmud Kamani, co-founders, Boohoo". Drapers. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "company overview – boohoo.com plc". Boohooplc.com. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ "boohoo.com expands with acquisition of PrettyLittleThing". Internet Retailing. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Boohoo online fashion retailer sees its profits double - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ "Fast-fashion chain Boohoo almost doubles sales in 2018". Financial Times. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "City A.M. Awards 2017". cityam.com. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
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