Transition from Allegro to a fast growing fashion-tech Miinto

Izabela Jarosz becomes a Chief People Officer at Miinto

  • Izabela Jarosz, former head of HR and a member of the executive team at Allegro Group, joins Miinto’s executive team. At the Scandinavian fashion tech she will lead the People & Culture area as Chief People Officer.
  • Her primary focus will be on supporting the global development of the company and its IT hub in Poland, increasing the number of employees and building a work environment that creates opportunities for people to implement interesting projects on an international scale, develop their skills and thrive in a multicultural environment.
  • Miinto, one of Europe’s largest fashion platforms is growing in strength by foreign expansion, technology development and tapping the market for the top talent. This strategy brings results – Miinto closed 2021 with a record-breaking sales volume.

 

After six years at Allegro, the most popular shopping platform in Poland and one of the largest in Europe, as well as a several month break to pursue family and personal plans, Izabela Jarosz changes her employer to Miinto. This Scandinavian fashion platform, founded by Konrad Kierklo in Denmark, operates in 14 countries. In Poland, Miinto is present under the Showroom brand acquired in 2019. The fashion tech is also developing an IT hub in the country, with plans to significantly increase the number of employees in the near future, focusing on acquiring experts in programming and online platform development.

 

Before taking up the position at Miinto, Izabela Jarosz was responsible for developing and implementing Allegro’s people strategy, which was one of the important factors contributing to the company’s dynamic growth. Previously, she was professionally associated with Allianz Group, where she held the position of HR Director for Poland, Southern and Eastern Europe region, as well as a global role at Allianz Partners’ headquarter in Paris. In 2010 she was the winner of the prestigious Top HR Manager competition.

 

“Since we are growing fast we need the very best talents – both to keep up with the pace of the growth and to help us achieve even more. However, chasing global success is important, but providing personal growth and work satisfaction is equally significant for us. Izabela, joining from the company that is one of the most well-known Polish success stories, provides an insight into the way people-focused culture works in innovative tech-driven companies. We are glad to have her on the board with us as we strive to become an employer that provides excellent opportunities for both professional and personal growth” – says Konrad Kierklo, CEO of Miinto.

 

The Miinto business model has already grown out of the start-up phase and has proven its effectiveness. This is an amazing opportunity to join the team while heading towards the next stage of the organization’s development on an international scale. But above all I got stolen by the passion, professionalism and diverse talent of Miinto’s team as well as its nimble culture. So the best time for a new beginning is now – says Izabela Jarosz, Chief People Officer of Miinto

Izabela Jarosz is a graduate of Art History and Psychology at the Jagiellonian University and postgraduate studies in Talent Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

  

About Miinto:

Miinto is a fast-growing Scandinavian fashion tech and one of Europe’s largest fashion e-commerce platforms, present in 14 markets and offering products from over 5,000 brands. Founded in 2009, it now operates in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Finland and Switzerland, as well as China. Miinto Group works with the most talented and qualified people in such fields as technology, digital marketing and customer experience. The combination of technological capabilities and passion for fashion in the Miinto team translates into an inspiring shopping experience for every customer of the platform.

 

Media contact: Beata Cioczek, Senior PR Manager, +48 508 096 257, beata.cioczek@cluepr.pl

Danish Fashion Platform Miinto Launches Official Flagship Store on JD

by Erin Wang

Europe’s leading online fashion platform Miinto started its overseas official flagship store on JD.com on Nov 8, bringing its broadest and finest assortment of fashion clothing and accessories to JD’s over 530 million consumers.

Miinto joins JD through the Just-In-Time project, which enables cross-border merchants to synchronize products and orders via an integration system, and provides consumers with an upgraded shopping experience through access to trendy products. Miinto aims at offering a rich selection of high-quality products from thousands of European brands to consumers in China.

“There are multiple reasons for choosing to collaborate with JD Worldwide as our starting point in China,” said Konrad Kierklo, CEO of Miinto. “But the key points are that JD Worldwide is highly trusted by Chinese consumers, and that they ensure that only authentic products go on the platform, which is very important to us.”

“Miinto has formed a sustainable ecosystem among independent fashion boutiques, brands, and consumers by utilizing innovative technology and cooperation strategy,” said Luke Liu, the Business Director of JD Worldwide. “The diverse product pool includes a highly curated assortment of premium and luxury goods from the best fashion boutiques in Europe, and will provide great value to JD’s consumers, especially during the Singles Day Grand Promotion.”

Founded in 2009, Miinto is one of Europe’s fastest growing e-commerce businesses that works directly with a highly curated network of the best fashion boutiques and brands, providing access to a unique assortment that is unparalleled in the industry. Miinto has successfully created a community with individuals who love and are passionate about fashion.

“We truly believe fashion is created by individuals and their love for self-expression. We are therefore proud that we are now able to give our partners access to one of the most exciting fashion markets in the world,” said Kierklo. “The longer we are in China, the better we will understand the Chinese consumers and therefore be able to continue to improve and develop our offering to meet their preferences.”

“JD will leverage its e-commerce capabilities and support Miinto and its boutiques to explore the Chinese market,” said Liu.

Miinto raises €20M from existing investors for further expansion

Miinto raises €20M from existing investors for further expansion

 

The rapidly growing Danish fashion portal Miinto, an online platform connecting 1,800 fashion boutiques, brands, and designers in 13 countries, raises €20M in new capital from existing investors.

 

The new capital is earmarked for the continued international expansion of both new and existing markets as well as heavy investments in technology and products. The new capital arrives in the wake of great momentum at Miinto through 2020, which, among other things, led to the fashion platform reaching a milestone of 1BN DKK in revenue.

 

“It’s no secret that we have great growth ambitions. That’s why we really want to take advantage of the momentum we currently sustain, and we are proud and humbled by the continued support from our investors who still believe in our growth strategy,” explains Miinto’s founder and CEO, Konrad Kierklo.

 

With soaring sales across all markets combined with an increase in the number of local partner boutiques, now amounting to more than 1,800, Miinto raised its top line by 46% last fiscal year. This is a new growth record for the Danish fashion platform, where especially the second quarter of 2020 was beyond compare.

 

Strengthened development in coming years

The development hasn’t gone unnoticed by Heartland A/S, the holding company that owns the majority of Miinto.

 

“We have been on the journey since 2016, and the sensible development that the Miinto team delivers is something that we still want to support. At the same time, we believe that Miinto’s concept, where consumers connect with ‘real people’ from local boutiques, is a development that will continue to strengthen in coming years,” says Lise Kaae, CEO of Heartland A/S.

 

The special thing about the Miinto platform is that it enables consumers to shop from the best brick-and-mortar and local shops or brands in each country. This means that consumers currently have access to more than 10M products from the best international brands and leading boutiques across Europe.

 

Miinto has just recently expanded into five new markets, namely Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. Miinto has already collaborated with boutiques from these markets for a while, but now the company has also opened for online sales in these five countries. That means Miinto can now offer existing partners to sell their products in the biggest markets in Europe.

 

“The international expansion is completely in line with our strategic focus on the combination of strong Scandinavian brands, vintage luxury bags, as well as international premium and luxury brands, which have proven to accelerate our growth internationally. This is the growth we now focus on accelerating further in coming years and what the new capital injection is, among other things, earmarked for,” explains Konrad Kierklo.

 

With the expansion into additional markets, Kierklo points out that the next year will be focused on developing existing partners as well as acquiring more partners to the platform.

 

Miinto has therefore invested heavily in optimizing integrations with partners. By delivering strengthened, stable, and fast integrations, Miinto strengthens the data foundation across all markets, providing unique insights into consumer demand both online and offline, which is a great advantage to Miinto as well as to its local partner boutiques.

 

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More information:

Henrik Steen Hansen, press contact at Miinto

+45 31233092

 

About Miinto

Miinto was established in 2009 and sells products via local fashion boutiques in 12 different countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. The company employs more than 200 employees across its headquarters in Copenhagen as well as regional offices in Oslo, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Paris, Hamburg, Milan, London, and Madrid.

Miinto.dk grows by 300% in December

Miinto.dk, which is among the largest online fashion retail stores in Denmark achieved a revenue growth of more than 300% compared to last year, thanks to some successful TV campaigns in December. It’s the biggest annual growth so far for a Christmas campaign.

 

December is traditionally a good month for all retailers. However, in recent years, the fashion industry has been characterized by particularly tough competition in the domestic market – especially online. Despite this, miinto.dk has managed to keep the budgeted annual growth and, something quite special for the larger players in the category, a positive bottom line.

 

In close cooperation with the agency UncleGrey, it has, among other things, successfully launched a TV campaign, which has generated enormous growth in the Christmas month. The top line growth of the Christmas campaign is thus the largest in the company’s history. CEO and Co-Founder of Miinto, Konrad Kierklo, is happy but keeps a cautious view of the future:

“No doubt we are happy and proud of the progress we have made here – particularly because we have managed to keep our bottom line intact. Together with UncleGrey and TV2, we have focused on a good creative output that works on all platforms, as well as a sharp targeting of our messages to the right customers. But there is no doubt that the competition is getting harder and harder in our industry, so we are already ahead of time and fully focusing on improving even better”.

 

According to Kierklo, the positive development can also be attributed to the large campaigns that were launched in the fourth quarter. First, Nørreport station in Copenhagen was transformed into Denmark’s largest virtual clothing store for a period of 14 days and then, miinto.dk launched the aforementioned TV campaign on TV2. Launching all this close to the end of the year was a strategic decision:

‘A significant part of our revenue for the year comes historically in Q4, and from the beginning of the year, we decided that we would fish when most fish can be caught. It may sound banal, but it has worked. Due to the increased pressure and visibility throughout Q4, our December campaigns have also proved far more effective than expected. And then, the creative content and concept have performed very well. Our agency, UncleGrey, and of course, TV2, have been invaluable partners in the process, ”says Kierklo.

 

Close to 40 million people visited Miinto in 2014. Revenue is expected to exceed 300,000,000 DKK. 1500 physical fashion stores are affiliated partnering with the platform across Scandinavia and the Netherlands, and with more than 100,000 products online, Miinto is among the largest fashion websites in Europe.

 

Download full press release (DK)

Fashion retailer reaches a quarter of a billion Danish krones

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.

Miinto nominated as ‘Best Cross Border’ company

Once again, Miinto is nominated to the eCommerce Awards – this year in the category ‘Best Cross Border company’.

The eCommerce Awards is an annual award show held in Copenhagen and that focuses on honoring successful Danish eCommerce businesses that manage to find unique solutions and are pioneers in their area.
Miinto has previously won in the categories ‘Best B2C’ (2011), ‘Best tool for eCommerce’ (2013) and ‘Best Marketing Tool’ (2013).

Miinto is launched in the Netherlands

After its success in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Miinto launches its fashion platform in the Netherlands. As of today, more than eighty Dutch boutiques can be found online on Miinto.

 

The Miinto network is composed of the leading independent fashion shops in the Netherlands and offers more than 400 high-quality fashion brands, such as Scotch & Soda, Tommy Hilfiger, or G-Star.
Miinto is a concept for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs that provides independent fashion shop owners a way to compete with the big players in the market. It combines the convenience of the internet and the expertise of shop owners that have been working in the fashion industry their entire life. They know exactly what their customers want.
Sander Brackel, Marketing Manager for Miinto Nederland: “Our business model gives consumers access to the top brands and unique products that one might find in the best fashion boutiques. This awesome jacket you saw at your favorite shop and can’t get out of your mind, you can now purchase from the same shop but online. The entire process from ordering to delivery at your doorstep will be dealt with in the same professional manner as they are used to from the established online retailers.”

 

About Miinto
Miinto was launched in Denmark in 2009. The past few years, Miinto was successfully launched in the Norwegian and Swedish market. The Netherlands will be the fourth country for Miinto. Miinto Holding generated a revenue of 50 million euros for its partner fashion retailers. It is aiming to become active in other European countries in the coming years. Miinto.nl has its office in Amsterdam, the heart of the Dutch fashion industry.