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 sales by more than 100 million in the first six months of the year – luxury goods and international sales are driving growth

The Danish fashion portal Miinto, which is the sales channel for more than 1,500 physical fashion stores across seven countries, has massive growth in the first half of 2020. In the second quarter alone, revenue increased 42 percent. With the progress, Miinto raises expectations for the year to a 40-50 percent growth.

 

Miinto comes out of the first half of 2020 with sales growth of more than DKK 100 million compared to the previous year. The Danish fashion portal can note progress for the partner stores in all seven countries that the company currently covers. Sweden tops with 89 percent growth ahead of Denmark with 63 percent and the Benelux with 47 percent.

 

Miinto CEO Konrad Kierklo is pleasantly surprised at how strong the progress was in the second quarter. Especially stores with fashion goods at the more exclusive end of the scale have experienced great progress.

 

“We are seeing increasing sales across the board. But with a growth in sales of 168 percent in the second quarter, it is stores with luxury goods on the shelves that have generated the largest increase without comparison” explains Konrad Kierklo.

 

The increased turnover of luxury fashion items is reflected in the fact that the average order value via Miinto has grown in all markets. The largest increase in the second quarter is in the Swedish market, where the average order value increased by as much as 53 percent and is now almost 2,000 Danish kroner. It paints a clear picture that it is a whole new segment of customers that Miinto is now attracting.

 

“A year ago, we increased our focus on the premium segment. That is what we are seeing the result of now. The numbers speak for themselves – the demand for clothes and accessories at the upper end is out there if you have the right goods and are geared to expand your sales to new markets. Of course, we continue the work of making ourselves even more attractive to far more store partners in the premium segment” says Konrad Kierklo.

 

Danish stores’ international sales are rising

 

The vast majority of Miinto’s revenue is outside Denmark’s borders. It also means that more and more of the largest store partners on Miinto’s digital store concept are picking up a significant portion of revenue across Miinto’s seven markets.

 

“The special thing about the Miinto platform is that consumers shop with the individual stores. It offers a number of local benefits. But many of our store partners also want to expand their presence in new markets via the platform, and we are now seeing this take off in earnest. In the second quarter alone, our Danish store partners’ sales in foreign markets increased by 281 percent” says Konrad Kierklo.

 

In the second quarter, Danish stores on Miinto generated over 40 percent of all their sales outside Denmark. Of which 21 percent came from the Netherlands and 15 percent from Sweden. Last year, less than 20 percent of the Danish store partners’ sales were generated outside DK.

The figures for the first half of 2020 are included in Miinto’s annual accounts, which cover the period from August 2019 to July 2020. With the high growth rates, Miinto is raising its expectations for the financial year to a 40-50 percent increase. In the financial year 2018/19, Miinto sold fashion goods for almost DKK 700 million.

 

Miinto in growth sells goods for nearly 700 million DKK

Miinto in growth sells goods for nearly 700 million DKK

The Danish platform continues to attract more customers to their unique concept – and this has led sales to increase by 40 percent.

 

Miinto has proven over the past few years that there is a good business in connecting local, physical fashion stores to digital customers. This has led to several major efforts to boost growth even more, including an expansion to several new countries, most recently Poland, and an expansion of the leadership team with former Fashion Week Director, Camilla Frank. On top of that, quite recently, the news came that Miinto had chosen to open a new vintage shop as a rewarding and strategic addition to its core business.

 

And all that is showing in the results. In January, they presented accounts for the period from August 1, 2017, to July 31, 2018, which showed that both their revenue and trading volume – how many products sold on the platform – had increased. The latter by 30 percent and amounted to 500 million DKK. However, the investments also had an impact on the bottom line, where a deficit of 47.3 million DKK was reported. This result is hardly surprising given the long-term growth strategy of the group.

 

It turns out that Miinto still manages to attract more and more consumers into their platform.

It shows in the revenue and growth figures that the company has just revealed for the last fiscal year, which runs until the end of July.

 

In total, Miinto sold products for almost 700 million DKK. This is an increase of more than 40% compared to the previous year.

 

“Again, this year we have succeeded with an ambitious growth strategy, which is the result of a strong focus on trading volume and personal customer experience. Rather than just having the goods delivered from a warehouse, customers value a personal touch from the store that packed the item. At the same time, we have managed to get the products that people demand online. And despite the fact that we are soon reaching 2,000 partner stores, the lack of more products and partners remains our biggest constraint for further growth,” told Head of Fashion, Camilla Frank, to Fashion Forum.

 

In this regard, Miinto has also chosen to invest in several new initiatives. This time in the development of individual procurement recommendations for their partners, as well as a number of sustainable initiatives that they will put energy into.

Miinto is growing and expanding with its first 25 partner-stores in Poland

The web shop concept, which brings together local fashion stores’ online sales in one powerful digital platform, has proven itself very successful, and Miinto is now also establishing itself in Poland.

 

Miinto’s concept, which gathers local fashion stores on one large online web shop, has become very popular. The consumers shop online on miinto.dk, but the purchases and sales are made by Miinto’s physical partner stores, which take the item down from the shelf and send it to the customer. There are more than 400 partner stores in Miinto’s Danish network, and they are wide spread throughout the country.

“Everyone argues that the growing network is a challenge for small and large stores that cannot compete with the big web shop’s huge supply of brands,” says Konrad A. Kierklo, CEO of Miinto, “But with Miinto, they get a powerful access to web sales for their own stores – while Internet customers get access to more than 400 Danish fashion stores’ inventories. ” “For us, the local physical stores are the right fashion stores, with buyers who know their customers and passionate sellers who know what great customer service is. They can do something completely different from a large automated warehouse in Sweden or Germany, “continues Konrad A. Kierklo with a smile on his lip.

 

The concept has been so strong that it has been exported and adapted to other markets – such as Poland, where Miinto has just established itself, even though Poland has quite a different retail structure when it comes to fashion stores.

In Poland, the retail structure is concentrated around local, Polish high-end designers who only sell their own brand. Unlike Denmark, there are only a few multi-brand stores with a wide and mixed range of brands. Competing with them are the major international brands and the well-known internet portals.  Miinto’s strategy is to gather the local designers’ brands and make them widely available on Miinto’s online platform, together with other strong international brands.

 

As elsewhere, online sales are growing in Poland. In retail, the current level is 7% and it is expected to grow to 10% within the next 2-3 years. Given that it is less than half of the European average, Miinto expects plenty of room for further growth. A growth that the Polish brands are now given the opportunity to participate in.

“We already had our development department in Poland and now we have expanded with an operations department dedicated to miinto.pl. I have met many of the local designers themselves, and it will be exciting to help them increase sales through Miinto’s platform, “concludes Konrad A. Kierklo, CEO of Miinto.

 

In addition, Miinto’s entry in Poland can become an advantage to Miinto’s Danish store network. In Poland, there is a high interest in Nordic and Scandinavian design and the well-known Danish clothing brands are very popular. Miinto predicts that sales in Danish stores will increase when their potential market has expanded, welcoming 38 million new Polish customers, who, as mentioned earlier, are expected to engage in more online trading in the years to come.

 

Miinto.pl has just gone online with 25 local, Polish high-end designers and a selection of Scandinavian stores and brands that will be expanded continuously as Miinto gets some more insights on what the Poles demand in terms of brands and products. The number of Polish partners in the Miinto network is expected to reach 150 within two years. In Denmark, more than 400 local fashion stores sell through Miinto, and globally more than 1300, with a number steadily increasing. Miinto expects to open in several European countries this fall.

 

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Miinto launches 80 min. delivery bringing local shopping to the new level

Online shopping needs to be even easier for consumers, says fashion company Miinto, which will now bring their customer service to the next level by offering express delivery within a maximum of 80 minutes in several major cities. The fast delivery will initially run in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Amsterdam, as well as in several cities in Norway, and there is more on the way.

 

Earlier this month, Miinto opened a pop-up store in Kronprinsensgade in Copenhagen City Center, which aims to draw attention to Miinto’s concept and partner stores. The temporary concept store will increase the sell-through in the stores associated with the platform by selling the goods through a shop universe on Strøget.

 

Ever since the latest investor, Bestseller United A / S, became part of the company in November, the focus has been on developing Miinto’s business even more and faster, and realize the company’s big visions and many ideas, with several actions that will help raise awareness around the many benefits of shopping local on Miinto.dk instead of on foreign online websites.

 

Wants to give customers more options

Miinto’s concept of “shopping locally online” makes even more sense with the offer of express delivery within 80 minutes from local stores. Initially, the concept will be launched in Copenhagen and Aarhus, but the plan is to spread the service as far as possible to the whole country. CEO and founder, Konrad A. Kierklo, talks about the new service:

“The consumers out there want to shop locally, but they are busy and are looking for convenience more than ever. We wish to meet that demand with our latest concept and take our service to a level that our foreign competitors cannot match.”, He explains and continues:

“To us, it is largely about telling consumers about the many advantages of shopping local, and by offering the best service to our many customers. Good service is also about delivery and flexibility, and for this reason we now offer express delivery. We are also happy to announce that there will be more new initiatives this year, which will greatly utilize our unique position with thousands of partners across our markets. ”

 

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Miinto investing and getting ready for the future

Ambitions continue to grow with Miinto and 2016 has been the year with the most ambitious development strategy to date, and again with a two-digit growth.

Since the start of a new chapter in Miinto’s development with an investment from Heartland (former Bestseller United A / S), Miinto has invested heavily in teams and technology, optimizing existing markets and preparing new ones. The implementation of the new strategy will make the fashion company even more ready for the future.

 

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Miinto.dk opens up pop up store

Over 70,000 products and more than 2,000 brands. It can sometimes be overwhelming to shop on Danish miinto.dk, but this summer, Miinto invites you inside a physical concept store on Kronprinsensgade, where you can see the styles up close and learn more about the Miinto concept.

 

Denmark’s largest fashion store

On June 8th, we finally opened the doors of our nice pop-up store located on one of Copenhagen’s best shopping streets, Kronprinsensgade 7. Here you can look at a handpicked selection of season styles for ladies, gentlemen, and kids while enjoying a good cup of coffee and shopping online from Denmark’s largest fashion store on iPads in the pop-up.

“We open this pop up store as it is an obvious opportunity to get even closer to our consumers and raise awareness on the Miinto concept, our wide assortment and our partners, the many fashion boutiques across the country,” says CEO and Founder of Miinto, Konrad A. Kierklo.

 

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Miinto receives major investment

A strong concept, healthy growth, and unique technological solutions have drawn the attention of the fashion industry to the Danish fashion platform Miinto. One of them is the owner of Bestseller Anders Holch Povlsen, who is now making a double-digit million euro investment in the company. The ambitions are big and Miinto is looking forward to taking the next step.

 

In January, CEO and co-founder of Miinto, Konrad A. Kierklo, was highlighted by Forbes on the talent list “30 under 30” in the category Retail & E-Commerce. The multi-million investment in the 7-year-old company marks yet another big event to celebrate in his relatively short career as an entrepreneur.

 

Great news for Miinto’s many partners
Miinto is a platform that connects products from more than 1.000 physical retailers with consumers who shop for fashion clothing online. The unique concept going forward is not based on a large, heavy central warehouse, but instead on the basic principle of the sharing economy which is to make use of resources that already exist.

The cooperation between Anders Holch Povlsen and Miinto not only entails further growth for the online company but also heralds promising times for the many partners. The partnership is a perfect match because of the common opinion of both parties that brands are part of the entire value chain. Both when it comes to direct sales to their retailers, and final sale to consumers.

Konrad A. Kierklo explains: “The investment from Anders Holch Povlsen allows us to make consumers aware of our brand and our concept, which is based on local online shopping. With this investment, we are to an even greater extent able to provide consumers with an alternative to the international online stores.”

 

A new visionary chapter
The new partners already have several plans in the pipeline and the investment means gearing up on future projects developing the retail sector and benefiting the Danish boutiques. Konrad A. Kierklo says:

“It is a day of celebration for all of us at Miinto. I am at the same time humble, happy and really proud of Anders Holch Povlsen’s investment in Miinto. We regard it as a big stamp of approval and we are extremely excited about this new chapter that we are starting together” he says, and continues: “We have already come a long way with Miinto and we have proven that our concept is profitable. With such a great partner, we can really boost Miinto’s growth and bring our many ambitions to life.”

 

A significant scaling of marketing and tech efforts
The past year, Miinto has increased focus on technology and marketing and has more than doubled the number of employees in both departments. A large share of the new investment has already been earmarked the further strengthening of these two areas. The optimization of the Miinto platform to respond event better to consumer demands will now be accelerated, together with a clear priority given to consumer awareness of the Miinto brand in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands where the company matches consumers with local shops online.

 

About Miinto
The Danish company founded in 2009 is today one of Scandinavia’s leading online fashion companies in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and The Netherlands. Miinto is an online platform gathering local fashion stores offering more than 240,000 products and thousands of brands through more than 1,000 partners. Miinto has a total of 96 employees in the four countries, including 60 employees at the headquarters in Copenhagen. Read more on miintogroupmain.test.

•   Anders Holch Povlsen only owner of Bestseller has made a double-digit million euro investment in Miinto Group.
•   The share majority will not affect the Miinto concept or company that will continue as is.
•   Much of the investment will be used for upscaling Marketing and Tech meaning creating more awareness and developing on new digital solutions in order to support the retail industry.
•   The first of the new and unique digital solutions is now being tested and will be released later this year.

 

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Miinto helps clothing stores create their own web shops

Scandinavia’s largest online fashion portal for physical fashion stores, Miinto, is in the process of developing digital solutions that will support the retail industry and benefit local stores even more.

As the first in the series, they just launched the MyMiinto concept, offering the clothing stores their own, individual web shops with their very own visual identity and design. A concept that can be a decisive uplift for the clothing stores who are currently experiencing a steady increase in online sale.

 

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