Fashion retailer Miinto has success abroad.
The total sale via the website is expected to have reached 250 million dkk in 2013, hence a growth of 60%.
Things are moving forward for the Danish fashion portal Miinto which sells fashion from 1.300 shops. Preliminary revenue figures show that sales via the portal has grown 60% from 2012 to 2013. The company expects to reach a revenue of 250 million dkk in 2013. The result makes co-founder and managing director Konrad A. Kierklo very happy:
“It makes me proud. We are still a young company with just five years in business, which was established by two people that studied together. It is surreal seeing figures that show that we have sold clothes for a quarter billion Danish krones. Luckily it is as we expected,” he says.
Miinto was founded in 2009 by Konrad A. Kierklo and Mike Radoor, and the first investment came from Crazy Daisy founder Carsten Mikkelsen and Just-Eat founder Jesper Buch. Things have moved fast ever since. More and more shops have become part of Miinto and this means that the portal now sells clothes from 1.300 shops and operates in five countries.
No stock
The idea is to sell selected products from fashion shops and take a commission on the sale. On the one hand, this means that Miinto misses out of potential revenue by having items in stock – but on the other hand is a strength for the company as well, explains Konrad A. Kierklo.
“Our concept is that we don’t want any stock. We are able to handpick the shops that sell a popular brand and get it online quickly. This means that we can react faster to trends – a lot faster than the competitors that have to order items, that they may be getting them next year,” explains Kierklo. “We contact the shops and use their stock instead. We work with 1.300 shops. This makes our stock very big and this is also why our revenue is growing so fast.”
The company is still in a phase where the focus is on scaling the business. It has approximately 75 full-time employees spread over five countries.
“Last year (2012) ended with a small profit and a large growth in revenue. We are working on the financial statement for 2013 and expect the picture to be more or less the same. The most important factor for us is the top line organic growth. If we end up with a small profit, it’s great – but if we end up with a small loss, it is fine as well. We want a healthy business. We don’t want an explosive growth that isn’t properly financed.”
Growth can be found abroad
Despite the cautious words from Kierklo, there is no doubt that the Miinto-team has eyes on foreign countries. The Danish part of the business is now generating less than 50% of the total revenue and the biggest growth can be found abroad. Especially Norway and Sweden are growing fast when it comes to revenue.
Konrad A. Kierklo explains that his philosophy is that you shouldn’t be afraid of trying new markets. It happens that Miinto fails in the process but that is part of the learning process and it helps the management team become aware of the company’s strengths. And this experience can be used when making the next move.
“We have tried a bit of everything. We have been in England and Ireland – and briefly in the USA. We have experienced different things and have sometimes failed. The bottom line is that we have found a model that works. Our concept has become more clear over time. We have found out how to expand to new markets in the best possible way. And that is what the focus is on right now. It is good to be successful in Denmark but the big money is to be found abroad. The domestic market is still Denmark, which can be used as test country for new concepts and products.”
Miinto founder is also aware of the opportunities to spread sales to more than just clothes and accessories.
“We want to reflect the development that we see in the physical shops. We can see that the trend is moving from fashion shop to lifestyle shops. This trend is something we would like to follow – or at least test”, says Miinto co-founder, Konrad Kierklo.