Secret Sales CEO Chris Griffin talks market disruption and tackling sustainability issues in fashion industry
RTIH sits down with Chris Griffin, CEO at Secret Sales, to discuss the company’s ambition to positively disrupt the world of off-price sales.
RTIH: Tell us about Secret Sales and yourself
CG: I acquired Secret Sales, along with my co-founder Matt Purt, in 2020, with the ambition to positively disrupt the world of off-price sales.
The retail industry lacked a space for brands and retailers to sell their off-price stock in an equitable manner. Matt and I saw this as an opportunity to transform Secret Sales into the marketplace it is today.
Our unique business model offers significant opportunities for the biggest brands and retailers to develop an off-price strategy that remains on-brand.
We work closely with our partners to increase their margins and reach new customers without damaging brand equity, while also offering consumers the best deals. As many retailers and brands face economic challenges, Secret Sales offers companies a long-term, sustainable solution to monetise their off-price inventory strategically.
We are currently home to over 2,800 luxury and high street brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Puma, Kurt Geiger, and Versace. And with 12 million registered users, we're committed to building a community of shoppers who appreciate quality and value.
RTIH: How has 2023 been for Secret Sales and what have been the highlights?
CG: Throughout 2023, Secret Sales has undergone remarkable growth and expansion, fuelled by a £10 million investment in April.
This investment has enabled us to make strategic acquisitions to boost our global footprint, while also growing our existing partnerships and customer base.
Our international expansion has taken us beyond the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands and into Spain and Ireland. In September, we acquired one of the largest flash sale sites in Spain, Dreivip.
This acquisition is part of our wider merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy aimed at transforming flash-sale outlets into premium off-price marketplaces.
From here, we also launched in Ireland giving our brands and retailers an opportunity to expand their off-price strategy to reach a potential 3.4 million new online customers.
Now, shoppers in Ireland have access to an initial, tailored offering of over £700 million worth of off-price inventory across 450 brands including Dsquared2, Plein Sport, Aquascutum, Cavalli, Diesel, Asics, Hackett, Ted Baker, Superdry plus many others.
Together these strategic acquisitions and our ongoing expansion efforts have positioned Secret Sales for exceptional growth. We are confident that we will exit 2023 at over 150% year-on-year (YoY) revenue growth and +100% YoY inventory growth, which takes the inventory value to well in excess of £3 billion.
RTIH: The economic climate remains uncertain. Has that brought any particular challenges for you and, if so, how have you addressed them?
CG: In the UK and across Europe, the cost-of-living crisis has triggered an increased appetite for high quality branded goods at more affordable prices, which we are now in a position to provide in five territories.
Our success highlights exactly how critical it is that brands and retailers adapt to the evolving market, but many have traditionally worried that brand erosion may have more negative effects in the long-term.
To solve these issues, we have connected an infrastructure that solves customs, logistics, and cost barriers, while allowing brands to retain full control of their branding. Our partners can now bypass the higher costs that were holding many of them back from operating internationally in post-Brexit Britain.
Through this, we helped them to expand internationally and allowed customers all over Europe to benefit from our low prices.
RTIH: Sustainable fashion is a hot topic at the moment. Whilst progress is being made, the fashion industry still has a bad reputation. What is Secret Sales doing to address the issue?
CG: The urgency needed to tackle the issue of fast fashion cannot be understated.
Recent research found that globally, we are producing 32 billion clothing items every year, 64% of which ends up in landfill. To put it another way, a stack of clothing the height of the Eiffel Tower is being thrown away every 16 seconds.
To tackle the sustainability issues within the fashion industry we must look at supporting both the consumer, the brands and retailers. By bridging the gap between full price and top quality second-hand garments, high-end brands can clear old stock more sustainably while still turning a profit.
At Secret Sales we offer customers a viable alternative to fast fashion, allowing them to purchase top-quality, long lasting garments, which might otherwise have ended up in the landfill, at accessible prices. But there’s a lot more we’re doing behind the scenes.
Technology plays an important role. Using proprietary algorithms, we display the best possible offer for any product at any time, and by leveraging data driven insights and new-generation AI integrations, we offer tailored lists of products which are bespoke to each individual customer.
Data analytics ensure we’re suggesting accurate product information to customers based on their shopping behaviours. This contributes towards our extremely low returns rate (16%), thereby reducing the greenhouse gases associated with shipping back and forth.
Elsewhere, our investment in PWA technologies ensures our website is fast, simple to navigate, and far more sustainable. By caching data after the initial load, our website works offline during subsequent visits - significantly reducing data transfer and dramatically cutting our carbon footprint.
These are just some of the steps we’re taking to offer brands, retailers and customers a more sustainable off-price solution.
RTIH: What can we expect to see from Secret Sales in 2024?
CG: Our strategic focus for 2024 is accelerating our platform development and international expansion agenda, while significantly growing our customer base in all regions.
We’re going to be busy acquiring new assets, launching in exciting new markets, and giving our customers even more choice.
The aim here is to not only provide established brands and retailers a platform to expand their off-price sales model but also empower local brands to reach a wider audience beyond their domestic markets.
In the UK and Ireland, we’re focused on expanding our customer base by growing our product selection. While we’ve invested heavily across all categories this year, we’ve seen particularly strong results with products that appeal to our female audience.
In 2024, we will focus on growing our portfolio of mid-to-luxury womenswear brands and bringing onboard additional global beauty brands to further enhance our offerings.
The recent additions to our leadership team and the creation of a new role for Chris Lacey as Chief Digital Officer marks a pivotal moment in our journey towards business growth and creating new value for customers as we head into the new year.
RTIH: Where would you like the business to be by this time next year?
CG: All our plans are focused on delivering on our vision to positively disrupt the world of off-price. By this time next year, we aim to expand into four new international markets and also acquire strategically aligned businesses within these regions.
Our expansion plan includes entering 10 European territories within the next two years, including France, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
We’re only touching the surface here, so get ready for a whole lot of exciting things from us in 2024 and beyond.
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