Prada, Armani, Fendi and Michael Kors – You don’t need to be strolling down streets of Milan or even finding parking space at Chadstone for a chance to show off fancy designer handbags or shoes. All you need to do is click a few buttons and arrive at Cettire (ASX: CTT) which is that thousands of Aussies have been doing through the pandemic. 

So impressed have Australian shoppers been with the range and price of Cettire’s online store which sells authentic designer goods, the Company’s market cap has increased more than 9x in less than 12 months. 

Since listing on the ASX in December 2020 with an IPO Offer Price of$0.50 per share which gave the Company a market cap of $190 million, Cettire has exploded since for shares to now be trading around $4.50 with a market cap of $1.7 billion. 

And the remarkable thing? Unless you’ve actually shopped there – you’ve probably never heard of the Cettire website or its Founder and CEO, Dean Mintz. 

Unlike other top retail executives, Mintz has shunned the public spotlight since listing Cettire on the ASX by rarely attending public events. By industry standards, Cettire is very quiet on the newsfront outside of regulatory requirements such as Half Year and Full Year reporting. 

To meet such regulatory requirements, Mintz did have to appear at Cettire’s recent Annual General Meeting but like the rare times he has offered himself to media – it was more good news. 

For the 4 months to 31 October, 2021,  revenue up 184% to $78.9m compared to the previous corresponding period with the sale driven by a 231% increase in web traffic (10.4 million visits) and 209% increase in orders with Cettire dispatching 107,676 luxury items over the same period. 

“The operating strategy we are executing on has underpinned continued strong trading results from the business. As offline stores reopen with COVID-19 restrictions easing, Cettire’s growth trajectory continues unabated with gross revenue up 184%, the number of orders more than tripling and active customers growing very strongly,” said Mintz. 

“The focused investment to further enhance Cettire’s solid foundations is delivering results. Having invested in customer acquisition and executed strongly, October monthly traffic increased 379% year-on-year. In addition, we are seeing very positive early signs from the migration to our proprietary storefont, with sales growth in “migrated” markets outpacing the Company.” 

Already with a catalogue of 1,700 luxury brands and 200,000 products that include clothing, shoes, bags and accessories, Cettire is set for a big injection of listings via a new brand partnership signed with Staff International. 

Staff International acts as the industrial platform for a selection of labels that include Maison Margiela, DSquared2, Just Cavalli and Koché and many more. 

Under the partnership, Cettire will list products from Staff International’s portfolio of brands, while providing fulfilment capability, payment options and post-sales support.

“Staff International has a reputation for utilising innovative techniques to push traditional boundaries. Partnering with Cettire enables their products to be directly available to a new and fast-growing digital audience of luxury goods customers,” said Mintz. 

For FY21, Cettire reported $92.4m in sales revenue for a net loss after tax of $0.25m which included their IPO expenses but is comfortably on target for a swing into profitability.