4 Apr 2017 07:00
For Release at 7am on 4 April 2017
Koovs plc
Continued delivery of strategy with sales up 87%
100% increase in units shipped and repeat customers
Trading update for financial year to 31 March 2017
Koovs plc ("Koovs", the "Company" and, together with its subsidiary undertakings, the "Group") (AIM: KOOV), the fashion-forward business focused on the young Indian e-commerce market, today announces a trading update for the financial year to 31 March 2017.
Financial & operational highlights
· Sales* up 87% to £18.6m (1.62Bn INR)
· Units shipped and repeat customers up 100%
· Registered users up 80% to 1.8m
· Web traffic up 77% to over 78.45m
· Social followers exceeding 2m
Koovs' strategy continues to deliver significant growth with sales* up by 87% to £18.6m for the full year to 31 March 2017, underpinned by a year-on-year 100% increase in both units shipped and repeat customers. While demonetisation¹ in India impacted the whole market, Koovs' proactive approach on customer payment and delivery options, coupled with a strong Christmas trading period, means Koovs has delivered growth of more than 5x the Indian e-commerce market as a whole. The company continued to improve its gross margin position by improving intake margin and controlling the level of discounts given, and expects to generate positive gross margins in FY18.
Mary Turner, CEO, said: "Koovs' distinctive fashion proposition is really working with our young target market in India. Engagement with our young customer is delivering strong growth and we continue to significantly outperform by five-times the e-commerce sector growth in India."
Waheed Alli, Chairman of Koovs plc, said: "India is now well established as the fastest growing economy in the world. Koovs' authentic global fashion is the right proposition at the right time in this major market and there remains huge confidence for its continued growth."
Fashion & Brand
The company's brand position as a fashion authority, offering exclusive Koovs Private Label designs, goes from strength to strength. Unique lifestyle content for online and mobile and four standout designer collaboration collections during the year, with Manish Arora, Hattie Stewart, Gauri & Nainika and Masaba, have further amplified Koovs clear position for authentic western fashion. New collaborations to launch this spring from Disney and the Princess Collection with Daniella Helayel, further raise the profile of Koovs as a fashion first company.
Koovs also continues to invest in the brand and amplify its unique proposition. Phase three of the Koovs brand campaign commenced mid-March and has lifted web traffic by 50%, peaking at two million in a single week. Koovs.com was also named as 'The Most Popular Fashion Portal with Youth' by The Youth Marketing Forum in February 2017.
First for Customer Satisfaction & Social Engagement
With the top Net Promoter Score in its category, at 29 v 21 category average (RedSeer), Koovs is No.1 for customer satisfaction and is also the top brand in its peer group for customer engagement on Instagram and Facebook India - Facebook's single largest territory with 142 million members.
Expanding Koovs to New Territories
The Koovs Private Label will remain exclusive in India, but its continued success means the company has now announced its strategy to expand into additional high potential markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The first international distribution agreement will launch the Koovs Private Label Collection in the Middle East on SOUQ.com, the region's leading e-commerce player, this summer.
* Gross sales order value placed through the KOOVS.COM website including taxes. This does not represent the revenue of the Group.
¹ Demonetisation: On 8 November, the Indian Government announced it would immediately replace the Rs500 and Rs1000 notes with new Rs500 and Rs2000 denominations. This was a significant move and caused short-term cash liquidity issues, including for e-commerce companies, as cash on delivery is standard practice in the Indian market.
Notes to Editors
Koovs is focused on building KOOVS.COM into the leading fashion destination in India. The Company is headquartered in London, where the majority of its design and buying team is based, with all other operational functions based in India.
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