LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feelunique, Europe’s leading online beauty retailer, announces record sales of £80 million in the financial year to 31 March 2017, with 27% year-on-year growth. This trend has continued to accelerate into the current financial year, where year-on-year growth is tracking 50% and annualised sales are now exceeding £100 million.
Biggest choice of brands and products
Feelunique was established in 2005 as Europe’s first pure-play online beauty retailer and today offers the biggest choice in beauty, growing its available products by 17% in the year to 28,000, across makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance and electricals from an unrivalled choice of over 500 brands including Chanel, Dior, Tom Ford, YSL, Charlotte Tilbury, Dermalogica and GHD.
Up on all key performance indicators
Feelunique now has dedicated websites in the UK, France, the EU, Germany, Norway, China and the US, shipping over 6 million units to more than 100 countries in the last financial year, with the average order value improving by 20% to £52. Feelunique sold a record-breaking 1.4 million products in November and December 2016 - 32% more than the corresponding months in the previous year.
Strongest in under-35 demographic
Importantly, 65% of Feelunique’s customers in the last financial year were in the highly sought after under-35 demographic, providing both established and emerging brands access to the millennial customer.
Social following more than doubled
With an online platform built upon innovation and community in the beauty industry, Feelunique’s global social media following more than doubled from April 2016 to April 2017 – aided by the acquisition of French online beauty community, The Beautyst - growing from 525,000 followers to more than 1.2 million.
China now accounts for 10% of sales and growing
Notably, since launching Feelunique’s Chinese website in Q4 2015, monthly sales in the country have grown rapidly to account for 10% of group sales in the last financial year (compared to 2% in the prior financial year).
Enhanced consumer proposition
Feelunique is constantly innovating to improve the way consumers experience buying beauty products online and has added significantly to its customer proposition over the past year, launching initiatives including: Pick ‘n’ Mix, a multi-brand sampling service; MyFeelunique Platinum, a membership service allowing customers to accrue rewards; and the Feelunique Makeup Live App which, through the use of virtual reality, allows users to try on products before purchase. In July 2017, Feelunique Unlimited was also launched, giving UK customers unlimited access to next-day delivery for just £8.95 for an entire year’s subscription.
In September 2017, Feelunique will unveil a concessions platform, providing customers with an even greater choice of products and brands by enabling certain brands to have their own designated area on the site and fulfil their own orders received through Feelunique.
Joel Palix, CEO of Feelunique, said: “The beauty market is experiencing a significant consumer shift to online purchasing. Through Feelunique’s unrivalled product offering, coupled with our innovative use of technology, we are changing the way consumers experience buying beauty online and I am delighted that this is being reflected in our annualised sales which now exceed £100 million.
“Launching a Chinese language website in 2015 is also proving to be a strategic success. In a little under two years the region has grown to account for 10% of group sales and is providing an excellent platform to satisfy Chinese demand for luxury and niche beauty brands.
“Looking ahead, we will seek to further consolidate our leading position in Europe’s key beauty markets as well as to grow our market share in Asia where we are working to enhance our operations to take advantage of the significant market opportunity.”
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About Feelunique
- Founded in 2005, Feelunique has grown to become Europe’s largest online beauty retailer with a choice of more than 28,000 products and 500 brands across makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance and electricals
- Feelunique is a cross-border online retailer, shipping to over 120 countries and with dedicated websites in the UK, France, the EU, Germany, Norway, China and the US
- Feelunique has over 130,000 site visits and sells more than 15,000 products every day, with 65% of sales coming from customers under the age of 35
- Feelunique has a rapidly growing international beauty community of more than 1.3 million people across our social media platforms
- Feelunique carries major brands including Chanel, Dior, Tom Ford, YSL, Charlotte Tilbury, Dermalogica and GHD - we are the only online beauty “pure player” to have built up such an extensive portfolio of premium brands across all beauty categories
- Feelunique’s innovative use of technology – such as our proprietary ‘Makeup Live’ app which allows customers to try on products virtually, with amazing accuracy, on their smartphones - is changing the way consumers experience buying beauty products online
- Feelunique is at the forefront of the digital beauty revolution and is a socially connected retailer – we believe content is key to succeeding in e-commerce and our dedicated editorial platform offers our customers inside knowledge on beauty including industry interviews, video tutorials and recommended products
