Feelunique has strong year and growth story is still accelerating

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Aug 21, 2017

European beauty e-tailer Feelunique had a strong year in the period to March 31 with 27% revenues growth to a record £80 million. And there’s more good news to come with the upward surge continuing into this year and accelerating. Year-on-year growth is up 50% so far this year and annual sales look set to hit £100m.

Importantly, 65% of its customers in the last financial year were in the key under-35 demographic and it’s seeing fast growth in the crucial Chinese market. The firm launched its site there in Q4 2015 and monthly sales in the country have grown rapidly to account for 10% of group sales in the last financial year (compared to 2% in the prior financial year).

The 12-year-old firm was Europe’s first pureplay online beauty retailer and today claims the biggest choice in beauty, growing its available products by 17% in the last year to 28,000. It offers her 500 brands including including Chanel, Dior, Tom Ford, YSL, Charlotte Tilbury, Dermalogica and GHD.

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It has dedicated websites in the UK, France, the EU, Germany, Norway, China and the US, shipping over 6 million units to more than 100 countries in the last financial year. The average order value rose by 20% to £52 and it sold a record-breaking 1.4 million products in the November and December Holiday season last year, 32% more than a year earlier.

The company also said that its global social media following more than doubled from April 2016 to April 2017 – aided by the acquisition of French online beauty community, The Beautyst. It grew from 525,000 followers to more than 1.2 million.

The company is succeeding by continuous innovation and in the last year launched initiatives including Pick ‘n’ Mix, a multi-brand sampling service; MyFeelunique Platinum, a rewards-based membership service; and the VR-based Feelunique Makeup Live App that allows customers to try-on before they buy.

And only last month, Feelunique Unlimited was launched, giving UK customers unlimited access to next-day delivery for just £8.95 for an year’s subscription.

Next month it will unveil a concessions platform, boosting product and brand choice by enabling certain brands to have their own designated area on the site and fulfil their own orders received through Feelunique.

CEO Joel Palix said: “We will seek to further consolidate our leading position in Europe’s key beauty markets as well as to grow our market share in Asia where we are working to enhance our operations to take advantage of the significant market opportunity.”