In The Style posts strong sales growth as it expands its influencer collaboration model
In The Style, the online women’s fashion brand, saw its sales climb by 45% year-on-year from April to August.
In addition, its ecommerce gross order value grew by nearly 50%.
In a trading update ahead of its AGM, the company said the performance was driven by increased brand awareness, more customers buying clothing for summer social events, and the continued expansion of its influencer collaboration model.
In The Style said its proprietary app continued to deliver strong levels of consumer engagement, with app sales growing to 62% of total online sales compared to 53% in the same period last year. The company’s new wholesale partnerships, including a launch in 100 ASDA stores in May, resulted in wholesale sales increasing by over 200% year-on-year.
Adam Frisby, chief executive and founder of In The Style, said: “We are pleased with the strong sales momentum achieved during the financial year to date. This momentum has been supported by increasing consumer awareness of In The Style and our clear brand mission to empower customers to be brave, embrace body confidence and, most of all, love themselves for who they are.
“Central to our growth is our differentiated influencer collaboration model that creates strong customer connections, drives efficient customer acquisition, and gives us exposure to a broad range of customers. During the period we continued to add exciting new influencer partnerships as well as launching a number of successful collections.”
The company saw a shift to more purchases of occasion wear in the period, which typically carries a higher rate of returns than the leisurewear categories that dominated the sales mix last year. Furthermore, better than expected progress with In the Style’s growing sales of more inclusive size ranges also resulted in more returns.
In The Style said it has not been immune to the impact of freight and supply chain disruption during recent months and said this, combined with the increased returns rate, will impact its full year profitability.
Frisby added: “We continue to invest in our team and infrastructure to support our long-term growth, and despite the widely-publicised external headwinds expected to continue to impact across the retail industry over the coming months, we remain very well positioned to continue to grow In The Style and achieve the brand’s exciting potential.”
