Footwear e-tailer Spartoo reports stable revenue despite tough fiscal 2022

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Mar 24, 2023

French footwear e-tailer Spartoo generated a revenue of €149.1 million in the last fiscal year, equivalent to a 0.8% downturn. Business volume was worth €209.6 million, down by 1.9%.

Spartoo was listed in July 2021, and last November it indicated it would not be able to reach its growth objectives, after the invasion of Ukraine and rising inflation rapidly quelled European consumers’ willingness to spend. Spartoo is present in some 30 countries, and in fiscal 2022 it reported an adjusted EBITDA of -€1.2 million, compared to €5.5 million a year earlier. 

The average shopping basket in 2022 was €83, and the return rate was below 16%. Last year, Spartoo notably opened 20 physical stores, bringing the total to 32 addresses, including 17 department store concessions. Spartoo stocks 10,000 brands, and in 2022 it sold 1.6 million product units, plus an additional 90,000 units via the Newlife pre-owned range.

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In 2022, Spartoo acquired a minority stake in Parisian womenswear label SAAJ, adding to a portfolio that also includes Pellet and JB Martin, in which the French e-tailer invested in the past, as well as 10 private-label brands. The revenue of these proprietary brands reportedly increased by 16% in 2022 compared to 2021. Spartoo has also signed an exclusive contract in 2023 to distribute the Aldo brand in France. 

Spartoo’s freight forwarding business, through which the group puts its logistics facilities at other brands’ disposal, suffered the loss of a major client at the end of 2021, only compensated by a positive performance in Q4 2022. The company invested €3 million in TV advertising last year. “We won’t do it any more,” said CEO Boris Saragaglia.

Children’s footwear accounts for 10-15% of Spartoo’s revenue, while men’s footwear accounts for 15% and women’s for 70-75%. A distribution that Saragaglia isn’t as keen to alter as he is to change the average age of Spartoo's customers, currently 39-40 years, which he would like to lower to about 30.

On the financial side, Saragaglia indicated that the value of the company's inventory increased by 13.6% in 2022. An increase driven by inflation up to 10%, but also by stocks of evergreen, much sought-after products. This explains the depreciation rate of only 5.7% on an annual basis. “Now, we have to turn these stocks into cash,” said Saragaglia.