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This interview with Kishore Biyani CEO of Future Group & largest shareholder of Koovs shows why they need Koovs & their technology.
https://www.indiaretailing.com/2019/09/25/retail/kishore-biyani-on-success-working-with-amazon-using-technology-to-move-ahead/

The Future is Fashion
Future Group is extremely bullish on its apparel business

“There is an opportunity to sell a billion garments in this country. Our mission in the organisation is to be the ‘Clothia’ to the nation. We are aiming at 3X growth to reach the billion garments target and that cannot happen only through physical distribution, we have to create a whole sourcing to supply chain to demand creation back end, and that is what we are working on,” Biyani said.

We have recently introduced Brand Factory online. If you look at our Brand Factory metrics, we only do cash on delivery, our returns are less than 10 percent, our order size per ticket is 4 and our ticket size is higher than the industry average.

Using Technology to Surge Ahead
Future Group has spent the last few years investing heavily in technology which it is using to collect data. It has line transactions of more than 8 billion which it has processed and has data of more than 5.5 crore customers.The management has a vision – to have more than 1 crore people visit their stores more than 12 times a year each, make them spend Rs 1 lakh each in the Future Group ecosystem, and this – the group firmly believes – can only be done with the help of technology.
“In the next two years, all the decisions in any company will be taken on the basis of technology. Data will be the king. From manufacturing to supply chain to accessing the spending power of the consumers, data will drive all the decisions. At present, we are working on a technology where we can future sense the demand of any product on the basis of the shopping patterns of consumers,” explained Biyani.

Chapsville, read virtually every complaint on Instagram, Google Play, Twitter etc. They nearly all stem from refunds & exchanges with a few on delivery. I honestly don't think that they were able to handle the increase in volumes.

I pointed all this out last month to the CEO Mary Turner at the AGM. She wasn't too fussed & basically said that there was a complaints culture out there. I managed to speak to an ex employee of Koovs who worked for their customer service in Gurgaon & he reiterated that many people go way out of their way to complain, it's just how it is.

But their customer service department still needs addressing.

Yes Matt, totally agree. The problem is that with this 'siege mentality', going into a lockdown & ignoring shareholders concerns is not good for sentiment. Basic manners in replying do not cost anything.

At the moment, there aren't many great stories being told on AIM, with Investors trading some proper rubbish. Could Koovs be the answer?

I believe there could be spectacular figures & that they are actually trading ahead of market expectations. Hopefully margins will improve too & more importantly, more funding received.

Otherwise, just like ASOS & John Lewis/ Waitrose, there needs to be Management restructuring/ changes.

Koovs are absolutely smashing it on social media- streets ahead of their nearest rivals : )
It's all about Instagram. Koovs has 752,000 with Koovsman followers whilst it's nearest rivals have the following:

Amazon fashion India 449,000
Myntra: 1.1 Million
Jabong: 360,000
Abof: 30,000
Limeroad: 495,000
Shoppers Stop: 142,900
Voonik 68,800
Mr Voonik: 6,600
Stalkbuylove: 370,000
MaxfashionIndia: 606,000
Zara India: 241,000
Gap India: 78,000
Paparazzi Closet: 51,900
Bewakoof: 966,000
Provogue: 35,500
Utsav Fashion: 18,800
TheLabelLife: 285,000
Shein India: 805,000
FabAlley: 221,000
Shopclues: 245,000

Amazon India, Zara India, Shein, Flipkart & Myntra are top of the tree with regards to sales. But it's Koovs who are taking control of social media exposure.

Most of the above don’t use influencers & don’t regularly post. They are not interactive with their customers. Some sell ethnic & kids wear.

Koovs is the nearest to our very own Boohoo/ Pretty Little Thing with regards to using social media & is way ahead of the competition.

Yes Spencer, been keeping a daily eye on the reviews on Google Play. The numbers are massively up, which tells me that customers are hugely up too. The five stars outweigh the one stars, but the complaints are way too high. I have pointed this out to Koovs management, but they have ignored my concerns thus far.

Speaking to contacts in India, the customers are extremely vocal when it comes to complaining. It's just the culture over there. Virtually all the complaints are to do with refunds & exchanges. Hopefully Koovs will learn from this.

Q2 update soon, I've asked them to update their Financial calender, but they're ignoring my emails with regards to that too.

Chinner, the arrogance is astounding. Just look at the arrogant Chairman Lord Waheed Alli. He has ignored my emails for three years & does not deserve his peerage. I will go as far as to say that he is bringing his peerage into disrepute.

The Board actually stated that the drop was down to 'day traders'.

The way they are ignoring shareholders is illegal & I have forwarded my concerns to the FCA & the Nomad Strand Hanson, the PR firm Newgate Communications as well as other organisations. They have a duty towards shareholders.

This is what happens when you do not reassure shareholders & ignore their concerns. The arrogance is astounding.

At the AGM, we presented the CEO with the stats for the August drop. She said to ignore them as the reality was that they were three times higher. Only Koovs have access to accurate stats.

The CFO Robert Pursell also stated that they had enough cash for the rest of the year & will get it as & when needed. So the £250k had nothing whatsoever to do with anything else. It was in fact a gesture to state that the funding deal was still intact.

As for the huge increase in Google App reviews, it tells us that there are more customers/ traffic. Yes, it is in customer's nature to complain rather than compliment, but the bad reviews are mainly about refunds/ exchanges, which I hope will soon be rectified.

150% growth in sales for Q2 comparable is what I'm predicting this week. This may even give H1 which is slightly ahead of expectations.
Koovs are clearly struggling with their refunds & returns which I believe is down to an increase in sales. This is evident on social media & Google Play.
With a down payment of £250,000 Kishore Biyani of Future Group (Koovs largest shareholder), is waiting to see what the CEO Mary Turner & the CFO Robert Pursell will come up with.
I'm hoping he pressures the Chairman Lord Waheed Alli into shoe horning the very capable Avni Biyani (currently Non exec Director) into the CEO role. Koovs desperately needs an injection of fresh, young, dynamic & ambitious management that know the Indian market, that have the connections & most of all are respected in the City.

'supposed', 'claimed' to hold shares. I attended both the EGM & the AGM. It was a chance to see who else can talk the talk & walk the walk. I met other genuine shareholders like Jambon. I wonder why the likes of you didn't turn up- how very strange ; )

Hope that clears up who actually holds shares in this conversation.

I have been questioned many times if I am a genuine shareholder. The EGM & AGM were the place to meet genuine shareholders. Unfortunately, most people who post on social media are not shareholders, especially those that pop up with a handful of posts between them, all of a sudden declaring that they hold 'x' amount of shares.

Spikeyj- thanks for your honesty & a great strategy! Are you on Twitter mate? we have a private chat that shares loads of research on Koovs/ India.

Valuation: Our valuation has changed – under the old estimates, the value should have risen, as the growth came through and the discount unwound. By delaying for a year, this has not happened, and there has been some dilution. Our central estimate of value suggests that Koovs is worth £300m today, or 74p per share.

https://www.hardmanandco.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Koovs-FY19-results-July-2019.pdf

Shorting is an overused word on social media & blamed for everything. I very much doubt that you could short such an illiquid stock like this. Good luck if you can find a broker to do this. The spread here is huge!

Large long term shareholders like myself are just very frustrated with the current management team. Under the right management, the potential is huge.

As for Jambon, that's just the way he is. He is just as frustrated as the next genuine shareholder.

Spikeyj- As I said, I was at both the EGM in June & the AGM in September. That was a specific question I asked the CFO Robert Pursell. Basically, they go with the Hardman & Co report because that is available to the public. The Whitman Howard report is available to clients, I have posted this elsewhere.

Both reports for 2020YE are virtually the same. Hardman state £22.2 million sales & Whitman state £20 million sales.
At this meeting, Pursell stated that they were trading in line with these market expectations.

Spikeyj- are you a holder in this company? We have a private chat group, but are pretty careful, as a resident troll has previously infiltrated it.

Chef, Tony, Kong etc- didn't see any of you lot at the EGM or AGM this year?

Genuine shareholders attended. I asked 'genuine' shareholders how many resolutions were on the voting slip, none answered.

I'm not someone who just sits back & takes it. I question management, Nomads, the PR firms, the analysts & the FCA. I contact financial journalists & consider myself an activist investor & will hold those in the wrong to account. It's the only way they will change their practices. I have made the effort to meet management, unlike those that hide behind their computer screens criticising those like me that make an effort.

As for Jambon, I know for a fact that he owns 4 million shares

Since 8p, this has been walked down on very low volumes. This tells us that nothing has been leaked- a positive sign.

Other positives as Chinner has pointed out is that the CFO Robert Pursell stated at the AGM (Sept 5th) that they are trading to market expectations (Hardman & Co report).

The rns on July 17th stated they were in line & on target to deliver market expectations for FY2020

Koovs have been very busy of late. A few of us monitor the reviews on Google Play (Apps). September has seen a massive increase in reviews. By nature, most people would rather complain than leave a good review, but about two thirds are very positive. Most of the negatives are down to refunds. I believe there has been a large spike in sales. Delivery seems ok, just the refunds procedure needs a bigger department to cope. (More sales, more refunds). Quality is excellent, virtually no complaints there. I have had samples sent over from Gurgaon, India & I can confirm the quality is excellent.

Will be looking for forward guidance too. The store openings (5 more in H2 & many more to follow) are exciting free exposure in the high footfall Central Malls. Koovs have already successfully pioted three stores.

Management may have the last laugh here in the next week or so, but I hope they learn from their mistakes with the way they treat shareholders.

The first issue was the botched funding. They stated at the EGM that funds would arrive by the summer. This then turned into 'several tranches by end of year'. This then turned into a payment £250,000 followed by the rest in due course.
Compare to management of Sosander, a small online retailer that secured £7 million all in one go. Its share price has gone up 50% in a month.

The second issue is poor shareholder engagement. They refuse to engage with private investors, who make up 50% of the share issue. This arrogance has led to many selling out.

If the numbers aren't spectacular next week, together with more funding, the incompetent management team of the Chairman Lord Waheed Alli, the CEO Mary Turner & the CFO Robert Pursell must be replaced. These three have overseen the share price fall from nearly 80p to the current 5p, with mass dilution along the way. They have destroyed shareholder value & let every single investor in Koovs down. The way they have managed this company is a total disgrace.

Whitman Howard have a 20p Buy target on Koovs- that's a near 300% premium to current price!

https://bdadvanced.ipreo.com/filestorage/download/AZcEnIuwY6vHfWsVJzxsEpR0FPrBuLa6PvB0FX1XB3P2Pa3KcipLG8wr9y5v0plcx7x19Eye36bFdLlcSIBCtFht2I8RAksFdR_ex8zNFyd1ULUCuUuBstHuayQL1f7l6744C14UQQbO8mohhZobdxanCyWuW9QSeoew3jJ1yBaQ

I love India, stayed on Lake Pichola in Udaipur last year. This year was briefly in Mumbai & doing a tour of India (mainly South) in January. The work ethic totally amazes me. Everyone is so industrious & ambitious to succeed, especially the poor. They don't get anything for free, like over here, so value everything a lot more.
Yes, growth has slowed down in India, but the West would do anything for the current 6% growth!

Chinner- you seen any of the Koovs Concessions yet in the Central Malls? They're around Delhi/ Gurgaon?