Off-price retail platform Secret Sales has acquired one of Spain’s most established discount retailers, as part of an aggressive merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy following an “exceptional” year of growth.
The UK platform and marketplace, which sells off-price fashion, sportswear and beauty with discounts of up to 80%, today announces the acquisition of Dreivip.com – one of Spain’s most established discount retailers.
It says acquiring the business, which boasts 2.7 million members in Spain, will provide brands and retailers with immediate access to a vast pool of new customers “actively seeking premium products at great prices”.
Dreivip.com will continue to trade as normal until a new co-branded site goes live in October. The new site will launch with approximately 450 brands, with a further 70 Spanish brands and retailers in advanced stage conversations.
In May, Secret Sales successfully raised $10m in Series B funding from a group of retail heavyweight investors to support the company’s rapid international growth strategy.
Forming part of an aggressive merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy, this deal follows Secret Sales’ recent expansion into the Netherlands and Belgium, making it the third European territory for the business.
Secret Sales anticipates full year 2023 to exit at over 150% growth year-on-year across the whole of Europe. It said inventory growth has also been phenomenally strong to date, up 45% year-to-date and anticipated to be at over 100% year-on-year following the launch – taking the inventory value to well in excess of £3bn connected to the platform.
“Secret Sales is a disruptor, we have a revolutionary business model that is a win-win for brands, retailers and consumers,” says Secret Sales CEO, Chris Griffin.
“Brands are increasingly turning to us when they want off-price to be on-brand and profitable. Despite the difficult retail climate, we are seeing significant growth, and the expansion into Spain is just the start of a wider pan European strategy to ensure that more brands and retailers get to experience the unique benefits of our platform.
“We are already in active and advanced discussion with a further 70 local Spanish brands that are very excited about our unique proposition,” he adds.
In 2022, Secret Sales generated 70% like-for-like sales growth and is set to advance this momentum with “unprecedented growth” in 2023 – making it one of Europe’s fastest growing fashion platforms.
WHAT IS SECRET SALES?
Secret Sales is a premium ecommerce marketplace for fashion, footwear, accessories and beauty. It describes itself as a “revolutionary new business model” disrupting the discount sector. It solves the problem of excess inventory, with a direct-to-consumer digital channel allowing brands and retailers to sell non full price stock in a way that drives growth and profitability, whilst also maintaining brand equity. In addition, in what it says in an “industry-first”, it also identifies new customers for full-price targeting in a fully GDPR compliant way.
Retail entrepreneurs Chris Griffin and Matt Purt acquired Secret Sales in March 2020, moving the business from a members-only flash sales website to a dedicated marketplace.
Dolce & Gabbana, Versace 19v69, G-Star Raw, Superdry, Jigsaw, Ted Baker and LK Bennett are among over 2,800 luxury and high street brands currently featured on the site. Products are displayed in a clean and stylish environment with complementary product and brand adjacencies, away from cluttered listings associated with traditional marketplaces and long delivery times commonly experienced on flash sales websites.
The plug and play platform enables brands to digitally connect supply chain and inventory systems to Secret Sales and trade more efficiently, without the need to physically move stock to a third party seller. It’s a technology and marketing-led proposition that acts as an efficient extension of a fashion brand’s ecommerce operation.
Secret Sales is forecasting 50 million unique users by the year end. The website has 12 million registered account holders. It is headquartered in the UK, with operations in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
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