Quiz this week outlined its omnichannel approach ahead of a stockmarket flotation that it will use to buy out investors and to expand the brand. The fast fashion Glasgow-based brand, founded in 1993, is valued at £200m in a placing at 161p per share. It is a Top100 retailer in IRUK Top500 research.
Chief executive and founder Tarak Ramzan said, as details of the flotation were published: “Today’s announcement marks an exciting new phase in Quiz’s growth and development as a leading international omnichannel fast fashion brand. We have a well-invested infrastructure, a clear customer focus and a fantastic team and I am delighted that investors have recognised the company’s significant strengths and opportunities with their support. We are confident that the company’s admission to AIM will help Quiz to deliver its clear omnichannel growth strategy and enable the brand to achieve its hugely exciting global potential.”
Omnichannel selling
Quiz says it aims to provide its customers with a seamless shopping experience, whether they buy its occasion wear and dressy casual wear through its website, apps or through its own 73 stores and 165 concessions in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Overall sales reached £89.8m in the 2017 full-year representing growth of 21% a year since 2015, while 2017 profits of £10.3m had grown by 30.6% since 2015. Its fastest growth, over that same period, came online (+42%) and in international sales (+64.2%). Between March 2017 and May 2017, revenue grew by 37% and online sales by 118%.
Looking to the future, it now aims to expand its marketing activity, broaden its product range and product categories, while also investing in its mobile channel. It also plans to open 20 new stores and the same number of concessions in the UK in the coming two years.
International
Quiz sells in 19 countries through 65 international franchise stores, concessions, wholesale partners and international online partners. Over the next two years it aims to open international websites in Spain, the US and Australia as well as concessions in Cyprus, the US and Central America. It also envisages expansion in the Middle and Far East.
Supply chain
Quiz has invested in its supply chain, IT systems and stores and says that it now has one of the fastest supply chains in the UK fashion industry. It opened a new 180,000 sq ft distribution centre in Glasgow last year which it says provides “a strong platform to support future growth”. Insights and live data on product performance, say its directors, allow “informed key buying decisions to be made quickly” A test and repeat approach to its supply chain means, says Quiz, that it can introduce new products to stores and websites within weeks of identifying trends, and reorder successful products quickly.
