Social and mobile commerce look likely to provide significant future sources of growth for etailer BrandAlley , which today reported a 60% rise in its sales for 2011.
The discount designer website, which now sells homewares, beauty products and lifestyle purchases such as spa deals and theatre tickets alongside its core fashion focus, today unveiled revenues of £28.9m in 2011, up from £18.1m in 2010. BrandAlley said that was driven largely by new customers, with a 43% rise in active customers to 160,000 during the year, from 110,000 last year. But significant income was brought in by its Facebook shop, which generated £450,000 in the fourth quarter of the year – equivalent to 5% of income – by launching exclusive sales a day earlier than on the main website. Average basket spend, said BrandAlley, was £4 higher through the Facebook page, demonstrating “increased levels of customer engagement through this platform.”
Since the year end, BrandAlley has gone on to launch a mobile-friendly site. Already, it says, it has sold more than double its initial sales targets for the month since it was launched in February 2012. In the future, it aims to generate 20% of revenues through the site.
Other new features on the site include an outlet site, with a permanent range of fashion, beauty and homeware products, that delivers in three to five working days.
Rob Feldmann, chief executive of BrandAlley, said: “At a time when there is continued pressure on consumer spending, BrandAlley saved its members over £67 million last year. Our ongoing growth has been driven by the consumer need for value, quality products at a great price. With UK consumer spend still increasing online, BrandAlley, as the leader of private sales in the UK, is suitably placed to further capitalise on these market trends. The emergence of the savvy shopper certainly shows no sign of declining with the ONS recently confirming that one pound in every ten is now spent online.
“BrandAlley’s growth of 60% during 2011 is a fantastic result and testament to the growing range of brands that we offer as well as improving service levels and engagement with our loyal membership base.”
The company now expects to see a 40% growth in sales during 2012, ahead of the 16% annual growth rate expected by the IMRG.
