Unbound Group is reportedly pausing activity on its ecommerce platform to focus on its core Hotter brand amid challenging trading results.
According to Drapers, the group will pause all activity on the trading site, with the website being changed to a holding page in a few weeks.
In a letter to its partners, Unbound revealed it is also putting a hold on all activity with existing brands and upcoming partners after “taking a strategic review”.
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The letter said: “Following this review, we have reached the conclusion to focus on our core business – the Hotter brand – for the time being.
“The pause will allow the team here to ascertain how best to fully leverage our existing Hotter customer base and the 17 million visitors that we have each year. I appreciate this may be disappointing but we believe it to be the right decision at the time.”
The move comes as the group saw shares drop by 41% in January this year, attributing the extended heatwave over summer, Royal Mail strikes and “broader economic conditions” to the decrease.
As a result, the group said expects its full-year revenues to be between £53 million and £54 million, giving a pre-tax loss of £4.25 million and £4.75 million.
However, in a statement, a spokesperson for the group said: “The company has paused live integrations for the time being. The platform is still up and running as it has been since its inception.
“As announced previously, the company is well advanced in conducting a wider review of the operating structure. No further comment will be made at the present time.”
Image credit: Unbound Group
