The remnants of online fashion empires are not worth fighting over

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Meanwhile THG is down by a mere 90pc since its peak, helped by takeover speculation. Put them all together, and the sector has completely crashed, and shows little sign of recovering any time soon.

Against that dire backdrop, it is probably not a surprise that the vultures have started circling. The private equity house Apollo offered to buy THG a few weeks ago but the deal fell through, and now its founder Matthew Moulding has lifted his golden share in the company, presumably to encourage another buyer to come in. 

Boohoo is locked in a struggle for control over Revolution Beauty, although it is hard to understand why anyone would want it. Meanwhile the ubiquitous retail tycoon Mike Ashley took a 5pc stake in the business, and presumably now has his eye on a full takeover. 

Ashley has also snapped up a 10pc stake in Asos, not long after the Turkish retailer Trendyol, backed by China’s massive Alibaba, made an offer for the business. At this rate all three companies will soon have more bidders than they do customers.

It is possible to see the appeal. The online fast fashion houses have some decent infrastructure, and a substantial online presence. They know how to source clothes and ship them out. And perhaps most of all they are very cheap. When the value of a company has fallen by 99pc it is not hard to convince yourself that it can only improve. No doubt the bankers can make a decent case for launching a takeover offer. 

Even so, they are not really worth all the attention they are getting. First, they don’t have any real brand value. People have heard of Boohoo and Asos, but they are a long way from having the kind of loyal following that the leading designers have created, or that chains like Zara or Primark command. Even worse, their core teenage and twenty-something demographic is suspicious of their ethical and environmental standards.

They much prefer buying pre-loved clothes online to what they often see as cheap tat. There is zero loyalty to any of the online retailers, and that makes customers very fickle.

Next, the market is brutally competitive. In any online business the margins are always wafer thin. It is simply too easy to compare prices and a better deal is never more than a click away. But online fast fashion takes that to new levels. 

As well as intense competition, the marketing costs are also huge, with advertising and influencers ramping up the cost of every sale. It is a very hard way to make money.

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