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Made.com posts positive first half performance
Source: Mintel 14-09-2021

UK 14-09-2021

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Furniture retailer Made.com has seen their losses narrow as they report a strong sales performance in the first half of 2021.

In the six months to June 30th, gross sales reached £213.9m, 54% higher than the year previous, with revenue climbing to £171m. Made’s reported losses came in at £10.1m, compared with £15.2m in the same half of 2020, despite global supply chain issues driving up shipping costs. Made.com chief executive Philippe Chainieux said: “I am very pleased with the progress made in the first half of the year, which is in line with the long-term goals set out at our IPO in June. We have continued to see strong and sustained consumer demand for our exclusive, design-led products and have gained significant market share with growth in all eight of our markets.”

Mintel comment:

“Made.com have ridden the wave of uncertainty in the home retail market over the past eighteen months. As a predominantly online-only specialist, the group has benefitted from the unprecedented and ongoing redirection of demand online. Indeed, since the outbreak, a huge 80% of consumers have had to shop for furniture online as a result of not being able to visit in-store. Ecommerce has therefore boomed in the market, as 77% of shoppers purchased furniture through the channel, up from 63% in the past year alone.

Alongside this online growth, the retailer, which typically runs high-end, design-led product ranges, has gained from an upscaling of demand across much of the consumer base. Among those that engaged in the market in the past year, 45% have increased spending as a result of extended periods in the home; while 47% have bought furniture with money that was redirected from other areas.

This climate has seen the group consolidate, often at the expense of competitors, in this period. Indeed, at this rate, Made.com’s profitability will enter the green for the first time over the next one or two years; after an extended investment cycle, one which saw a £1 billion IPO launched in late May 2021. Ultimately, through ecommerce and the huge growth of online pure-players, consumers have proved willing to buy furniture since March 2020.

The net long-term benefit for the channel that will result from this only positions Made.com to further consolidate moving forwards. Both in the new audience bought into purchasing for the home online, but also growing assurance in the channel: with 55% of buyers now more confident in purchasing bigger-ticket furniture (eg £250+) online than before the outbreak. However, this landscape has also given rise to newer online-only disruptors, such as ManoMano in the DIY marketplace, which could see competition intensify in the channel moving forward. This landscape is expanded in Mintel’s Furniture Retailing – UK 2021 Report.”