Specialist retailer 7879 has credited its successful first year of trading to shoppers “seeking a fresh approach to collecting jewellery”.
For the 12 months to September 30, 2022, 7879 posted revenue of £1.5m and predicts this figure will double to reach £3m this year.
The retailer reported a 977% increase in sales from the first to the fourth quarter last year and said its average order value increased to £500 during the period.
7879 also credits its surge in revenue to repeat customers, who contributed almost 50% of the revenues for the year.
Following 7879’s launch into Harrods in November, in time for Black Friday and Christmas, the retailer finished the year on a total sales figure of more than £1.5m.
Its launch into both Harrods and Selfridges last year was supported by the £5.5m in seed funding led by Anglo American it secured in June.
The retailer said its implementation of transparent pricing led to “a disproportionately higher volume of platinum to gold sales, compared to the industry average”.
It also revealed its plans to “quickly expand abroad in the first half of 2023” as a result of demand from brand partners and retailers in the US, Europe and the Middle East.
Chief executive and co-founder Sach Kukadia told Retail Week: “When we were forecasting pre-launch, there was a number of expectations that we predicted and we built a business model that frankly was still quite aggressive, but we tripled what we thought we would do.
“The initial plan was actually to do about £500,000 in year one, so to complete year one on more than £1.5m was a wonderful moment for us.
“We didn’t forecast to be in Selfridges or Harrods within the first 12 months either. Both of those opportunities came about due to the way in which the business was trading.
“We’ve launched a business model that doesn’t exist outside of 7879. There are lots of USPs – not just transparency and price, but the purity angle and the investment angle.
“We want to raise awareness, not just in the UK but in Europe and across the world, so the plan this year is to internationalise 7879 as quickly as possible.
“We are also negotiating with a number of other online retailers. Being available online in certain stores would be a big part of our strategy this year and we want to focus on continuing to engage with our core customer base.
“Equally, it is really important that we educate the wider consumer about the differences of 7879 and why we are a business that should potentially be considered when people are thinking about buying jewellery.”
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