Upon his appointment in August this year, Live Verdure (ASX: LV1) CEO and former Managing Director of Loreal, Mark Tucker, had stated, “The foundations are in place, and the time is right to deliver results for shareholders and stakeholders.”

It looks like he is a man of his word.

A testament to his tenure, the plant-based food and skincare company recorded sales of around $579,000 in November 2022—more than double the combined sales figures from the past three months. The return on ad spend for LV1 Consolidated was an impressive 3.45x in the same month, thus validating Tucker’s decision to prioritise digital marketing.

Live Verdure’s hemp seed arm, 13 Seeds, grew its ad spend return to 2.8x in November, up 86% on the previous corresponding period, and Edible Beauty’s new subscriber count was up more than 300% on the prior month. 

Tucker shared, “We are pleased by the initial performance gains flowing from our business optimisation strategy, which as a package is so much more than just a simple cost-cutting exercise. It underwrote sharp improvements in a number of key financial metrics over the month of November, headed by record group sales revenue and new order levels. And going down to the brand level, the well-considered marketing initiatives included in the strategy are already resulting in big uplifts to a host of critical operational benchmarks, including return on ad spend and customer acquisition cost levels.”

Plant-based and vegan skincare is ruling the roost right now, driven by consumers’ increased eco-consciousness. The vegan cosmetics market is expected to reach about $40 billion by 2030. Tucker is not about to let this new beauty movement pass him by. In fact, in November, the Company reported a record monthly total of 5,144 new orders across all its brands, mainly Edible Beauty.

The Edible Beauty numbers are particularly significant given that the Company completed the skincare and wellness brand’s acquisition in November. Perhaps it’s a result of Tucker prioritising its marketing before even sealing the deal. 

Moreover, Live Verdure’s 13 Seeds business has historically reported a substantially larger percentage of first-time customers. Now, the Company’s focus is on converting these new users into brand loyalists. In November 2022, it recorded the highest percentage of returning customers in Live Verdure’s history—59%—proving the power of its growing database and successful strategy execution.

Tucker added, “From here we will continue to realise the ample scope available to grow our revenue base by successfully pushing a number of levers in the process of delivering scale to the Live Verdure business. We will target further gains in our Average Order Value, which is currently just above the $100 mark. Over the months ahead, we look forward to informing the market of both our success in deriving increased sales out of our continually growing active subscribers book, which currently numbers 72,000, as well as further additions to our product suite.”

Recovering from Covid’s impact on commerce, Tucker aptly put emphasis on omnichannel marketing to boost brand awareness. In the coming months, the Company aims to benefit from the new CEO’s retail, wholesale and distributor connections, and the renewed customer enthusiasm.