- Supermarkets giant to stock Sosandar products online and in stores
- Initial range to include Sosandar best sellers
- Tie-up follows record Christmas quarter
Shares in Sosandar (SOS:AIM) surged the best part of 10% higher to 23p after the online women’s fashion brand announced a wholesale agreement with FTSE 100 supermarkets giant Sainsbury’s.
Significantly, the partnership will see Cheshire-based Sosandar expand into in-store retail for the first time, having previously only sold its wares online via its own site and through existing third party stockists Marks & Spencer (MKS), John Lewis, Next (NXT), The Very Group and JD Williams.
FIRST PHYSICAL RETAIL MOVE
Under the terms of the tie-up, British fashion brand Sosandar will sell a curated collection of its products through the supermarkets giant during 2023, initially online only, but with selected stores planned later this year as Sainsbury’s increases its collaborations with fashion brands.
The initial product range will include best-selling styles from Sosandar’s high performing collection and accessories and significantly, the partnership includes Sosandar’s first in-store presence.
This move allows the company to become ‘a truly omnichannel retailer’, according to management, and will boost brand awareness across its target customer demographic whilst ‘driving growth sales and pre-tax profit’.
ONLINE DEALS DELIVERING STRONG GROWTH
Sosandar added that sales to date from its existing online partnerships with John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Next, The Very Group and JD Williams have been ‘extremely strong, with a record quarter delivered through third parties’ in the third quarter to 31 December 2022.
The Sainsbury’s tie-up builds on an upbeat Christmas trading update from Sosandar, which reported third quarter revenue up 30% year-on-year to £11.6 million, with the quarter marking a fifth consecutive quarter of profitability for the group.
Average order value in the quarter was £106.37, up 11% from £95.69 a year earlier. Sosandar said every single product category experienced growth, with knitwear, formal tailoring, coats and partywear performing exceptionally well throughout the winter season.
WHAT ARE SOSANDAR’S CEO’S SAYING?
Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Sosandar’s co-CEOs, commented: ‘We are delighted to secure a new partnership with another renowned British retailer, Sainsbury’s, to sell our womenswear collections.’
Shore Capital added: ‘Given Sosandar’s small scale, we would not anticipate that this tie-up will be identifiable in the Sainsbury P&L (profit and loss), but it may be a relationship that contributes to the online and in-store interest of shoppers to the wider clothing offer of the £1 billion-plus business centred around the in-house Tu brand.’
