Online luxury fashion marketplace Cettire eyes China as profits boom

Shoppers are still happy to spend thousands of dollars on Jimmy Choo shoes or Gucci sandals to send sales for online luxury fashion retailer Cettire soaring.

Cettire, the online luxury fashion marketplace that sells a range of brands including Giorgio Armani, is eyeing an expansion into China.

Luxury fashion online marketplace Cettire has proved there is still plenty of cash swishing around the economy to spend on thousand-dollar Jimmy Choo clutch bags or Gucci sandals, with interim sales leaping 90 per cent and the retailer now setting its sights on breaking into China.

Already gaining traction in Australia and overseas, especially in emerging markets, Cettire founder and chief executive Dean Mintz is exciting investors with a planned expansion into China, the world’s largest luxury market, promising it will soon open a direct channel to Chinese shoppers.

Shares in Cettire leapt 40 per cent on Wednesday when the online fashion marketplace posted a 60 per cent boost in interim profit to $12.8m built on a 90 per gain in revenue to $354.3m, as its customer base upped their purchases of handbags, clothing and accessories through the December quarter. The stock closed up 25.2 per cent at $3.97.

Gross revenue increased by 90 per cent to $460.5m, driven by growth in both order volume and average order value.

As at the end of December Cettire had 575,888 active customers, up 83 per cent, and a record for quarterly net active customer additions, driven by strong conversion of the increased marketing investment to new customer adds and a significant improvement in 12-month retention, the online retailer said.

“Cettire delivered an exceptional result for the first half. During the period, we experienced broad-based momentum across both established and emerging markets, supported by our localisation initiatives and marketing execution,” said Mr Mintz.

At December 31, 2023, Cettire had a cash balance of $100m and zero debt. Its shares closed up 80c, to $3.97 to give it a market capitalisation of $1.51bn. Its shares are up 700 per cent since 2020.

Cettire, which sells a large portfolio of luxury brands such as Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Giorgio Armani, has now turned its gaze to the world’s largest luxury market, China. Mr Mintz told analysts on an investor call that it could soon announce the details of its direct channel platform for the Chinese market.

“China is something we remain very excited about … it’s about choosing the time,” he said.