MILAN — Fashion is still trying to figure out how to move its business online — and make money doing it – but amid iffy outlooks for many of the e-commerce giants, including Farfetch and Matches, Italy’s Giglio.com is pushing ahead.
The luxury online retailer, listed on the AIM Italia program of the Milan Stock Exchange dedicated to small and medium-sized companies, logged a 10 percent uptick in 2023 sales to 56.3 million euros, managing to improve profitability along the way.
Chief executive officer Giuseppe Giglio told WWD that 2023 “was particularly troubled for our industry. They year has been marked by great uncertainty for retailers leveraging such [marketplace] platforms as ours and consumers were surprised by the news.”
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However, he said, “we proved resilient to market forces. We are doing good and demonstrated that our strength lies in our ability to engage in a dialogue with retailers and global consumers, leveraging both to the benefit of the other. Luxury [consumption] has always been cyclical and a slowdown is reasonable.”
The company cited an expanded product offering as among the drivers of revenue growth in 2023. Giglio.com functions as a marketplace with around 200 brick-and-mortar stores as partners, mainly based in Italy, in addition to France and Spain, among other countries.
International retailer partners “looking for alternatives to Farfetch,” in the words of Giglio, grew 50 percent in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, with increased representation of Italy’s neighboring countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
Last year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization stood at a negative 200,000 euros, showing an advancement of 3 percentage points in two years. In 2022 the EBITDA was negative at 1 million euros.
The company said profitability improved thanks to the expansion of its international footprint and the rationalization of its pricing and discount policies.
“We are achieving growth in areas with consolidated luxury consumption,” Giglio said. “I’m confident that positive profitability will be achieved this year [2024] thanks to investments [made] in technology and the expansion of our offering,” he said. “Our growth is directly linked with growth in our catalog. It’s a simple equation, more partners mean better qualified products,” he pointed out.
Last year Giglio.com drew more than 153,000 active customers, a 16 percent increase compared to the previous year, with brisk performances in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece.
“I’m very confident about 2024, I believe that spring is still expected to be defined by high interest rates and inflation…in the summer with the first fall sales, [luxury consumption] will be back to normal,” Giglio opined. “Luxury consumers have been used to increases [in the cost of life] since eight to 12 months,” he said.
As reported, last year Giglio.com linked with Vestiaire Collective to enter the secondhand market and introduced a design and lifestyle section, both contributing to an increase in its gross merchandise value. It also inaugurated a state-of-the-art complex in Palermo, Italy, covering 75,347 square feet that is dedicated to logistics operations and product shootings.
In 2023 net loss stood at 1.7 million euros, compared to a loss of 2.3 million euros in 2022.
Shares of Giglio.com closed up 2.78 percent to 1.85 euro on Tuesday.
Prospects are all but rosy for fashion e-commerce, as reported.
Over the past few months, Matches was sold in a 52 million pound firesale only to end up in administration, with its short-term owner Frasers saying, “It has become clear that too much change would be required to restructure it.”
Farfetch was plugged into South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, which swooped in with $500 million to buy a company once valued at nearly $40 billion, while Yoox Net-a-porter seems to be out to sea again to find a new owner after its aborted deal with Farfetch. And owner Compagnie Financière Richemont has written off its value on its books.
Saks.com and Moda Operandi are both looking to raise money.
In addition to the Giglio.com business, the Giglio family independently operates five physical boutiques in Palermo, Italy — a business that began in 1965.