Journey
Online brands are continuously disrupting the markets globally like Cerritos (California)-based Revolve Group, Inc., the next-generation fashion retailer for Millennial and Generation Z consumers, which has been witnessing continuous year-on-year growth.
Started in 2003 by co-CEOs Michael Mente and Mike Karanikolas, the company sells merchandise through two complementary segments: REVOLVE and FWRD. Through REVOLVE, it offers an assortment of premium apparel and other lifestyle products while FWRD offers an assortment of curated, elevated iconic and emerging luxury brands. The ‘billion dollar’ online retailer, a trusted premium lifestyle company and a go-to online source of apparel, footwear, accessories and home products, derives its revenue (almost 75 per cent) primarily from the sale of apparel merchandise.
The company claims to have a deeply engaged community of millions of consumers, thousands of global fashion influencers and a large range of emerging, established brands.
With a strong thrust on private labels, Revolve’s own brands represent five out of its top ten brands and contribute 22.4 per cent of its net sales. Unlike traditional private label offerings, its in-house brands command pricing similar to third-party brands due to their brand equity, as demonstrated by their collective social media following, which exceeded 4 million followers on Instagram as of 31st December 2022. Further, Revolve’s in-house brand portfolio, which includes 31 brands, enhances loyalty, given that the substantial majority of these brands’ styles are available only on Revolve site. And all this is despite having competitors like asos.com, neimanmarcus.com, zappos.com, shopbop.com, freepeople.com and lulus.com.
| Few of its suppliers are also in the US and India. Its annual report states that a substantial portion of its products are sourced from third parties. But the report also adds that Revolve will continue to expand its supplier network in existing and other geographies. |
Strengths of Revolve
Strong consumer base, financial growth and increasing reach across the globe are the vital factors behind Revolve’s growth. It closed 2023 with a solid fourth quarter that included improved sales trends, year-over-year expansion of its gross margin and early progress on selling and distribution cost efficiencies. Its net sale was US $ 257.8 million (Q3 ending on December ’23), while for the full year of 2023, its total net sale was US $ 1.1 billion. It had 2.54 million active customers in 2023 and total orders placed were 8.7 million while the average order value was US $ 297.
Though the company is primarily focused on expanding its US business and has grown internationally with limited investment and no physical presence, in recent years, it has begun offering a more localised shopping experience, including free returns and all-inclusive pricing customers in the various countries. With a strong tech base helping it to scale greater heights, just three months back, Revolve announced its pop-up shop providing immersive retail experience, nestled in the heart of Aspen, Colorado. In October 2023, the company appointed Divya Mathur as Fashion Director, who earlier served as Chief Merchandising Officer at Intermix.
Prices and offerings
The company claims to offer over 90,000 styles of apparel and footwear (with over 1,500 new styles per week on an average). As per reports, Revolve has a wide range of price points, but in general, it is on the more expensive side. For example, its denim range starts at around US $ 10 and goes up to US $ 1000.
