Miinto has, in a single financial year, increased the total volume of orders that goes through the platform and out to local fashion stores to 500m DKK, and the high growth continues. The entire profits are reinvested in optimizing Miinto’s online platform and in digital marketing for all markets.
There are plenty of products on the market and everyone is struggling to sell the items they have on the shelves – including the online stores that run e-commerce as people did 20 years ago. They have to cover the high costs of inventory and shipping to customers.
Miinto challenges the traditional e-commerce mindset of having a large and expensive warehouse, and collaborates with more than 1,800 of the best fashion boutiques and partners across 7 markets to sell the hand-picked goods that stores and partners already have in stock – while offering online customers the personal and local service that they would enjoy in their local fashion store.
– We give our partners an extra sales channel so that they can sell the goods they already have in stock. They can handle and send the orders we generate through Miinto when there are no customers in the store and thus, streamline the fixed costs they already have when running a store. They do not pay more in rent, staff, electricity or furniture by being part of Miinto. Collaborating with Miinto simply provides them with more revenue and a higher sell-through without any additional costs, says CEO of Miinto, Konrad A. Kierklo.
Miinto’s core markets are Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, and the Netherlands in particular have experienced an impressive growth, with the revenue almost doubling compared to last year. The Netherlands have now become Miinto’s second largest market after Norway, and this in a period where Norway, Denmark and Sweden have also shown strong growth.
The expansion journey continues
At the same time, the Danish challenger continues its European expansion journey. Recently, fashion stores in Belgium, Poland and Switzerland have also become part of Miinto’s online platform. In Poland, Miinto already collaborates with 25 local partners, and expects to reach 150 partners within the first two years. In Switzerland, where Miinto has just opened its doors, Miinto expects to on-board 50 local fashion partners during the first year.
– 2018 has once again proven that our business model works and is scalable as we both grew and were profitable in the established markets, and entered new markets. The focus of the past year has been on the one hand, on securing a scalable marketing setup and, on the other hand, on strengthening our online platform. This means that the development of our digital channels, local marketing and better customer experiences in-store and online is driving the growth, says CFO of Miinto, Jørgen Flarup Gosvig.
Investments in Miinto’s digital platform and local marketing activities have increased by 50 percent over the past year. The development of the platform is so extensive that one third of all Miinto employees now work on developing the platform and in tech. According to Jørgen Flarup Gosvig, this is crucial to maintain the market share:
– It is the reality in our industry where technology and user experience are crucial. Those are absolutely necessary for us in order to be able to provide the most personal online customer experience, and generate revenue and traffic to our partners, says Jørgen Flarup Gosvig.
Miinto continues to grow in 2018/2019 and expects to be able to show a growth of more than 40% in the current financial year, driven especially by the export markets, but also by Miinto’s domestic market, Denmark.
The massive investments undertaken to increase the revenue created for the local partners and to continue to develop the Miinto platform also mean that the pre-tax profit lands at -47 million DKK, but it is a growth strategy that is backed up by the investors.
Background:
A strong collective of local fashion boutiques
Miinto allows the best local fashion stores to sell online in a fast, hassle-free and cost-effective way, thus expanding their market. By joining Miinto, they become part of a large community hosted on a highly effective sales platform for fashion.
Miinto’s network
Founded in 2009, Miinto currently counts more than 130 employees distributed between the head office in Copenhagen and the regional offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Warsaw, and Zurich. Miinto sells products online in seven European countries – Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland – thanks to a strong network of the best local fashion boutiques in each market.
