Farfetch named UK's fastest growing retailer
Online luxury platform Farfetch has been named the UK's fastest growing retailer beating major industry names such as ASOS, JD and Superdry to the top spot.
According to the newly released Retail Growth Index from OC&C Strategy Consultants and Financo, the London-based business achieved 70% revenue growth in 2016, ahead of second placed The Hut Group (owner of Coggles.com and Glossy Box among others) which achieved 50% growth).
Other fashion players in the top 10 include JD at number four with 31% growth and Asos (sixth) and Superdry (eighth) with growth of 28% and 27% respectively.
Just outside the top ten was luxury department store Harrods with a growth of 23%, while Jimmy Choo (which was recently acquired by the Michael Kors Group) made the cut along with Yoox Net-A-Porter Group with a growth of 15% and 12% respectively.
When the list is arranged by value growth, however, Farfetch slips to sixth with value retailer Primark topping the list, with a growth of £602m last year. JD comes second with £558m of growth and Harrods is fourth, followed by ASOS and then Farfetch. Luxury house Burberry also makes this list at number seven with growth of £251m.
What the two lists above show is that brands positioned at either the luxury or value end of the market tend to fare best when it comes to achieving both percentage and actual growth.
"In the UK, the growth outliers have defied pessimistic forecasts by either clarifying their market positioning into value or luxury very clearly or by single-mindedly pursuing online growth,” OC&C Strategy Consultants partner and recently appointed non-executive director of Ted Baker Anita Balchandani said.
“There does not appear to be a growth premium for multi-channel retailers, but rather it’s the online pure-players or the store-led value formats that are finding the biggest growth. To find market-beating growth, brands must have a deep understanding of multiple factors, including how to compete with the rising e-commerce ecosystems, how to capitalise on the growth in digital channels and where M&A could confer a strategic advantage,” she added.
