PrettyLittleThing struggles with 'overwhelming' demand

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jul 9, 2018

Online fashion brand PrettyLittleThing has been forced to disable its next-day delivery option and certain discounts after seeing demand reach ‘overwhelming’ levels.

The company warned consumers on social media of possible delays and that next-day delivery will remain suspended until further notice to help its teams get through the orders that have already been placed.

Umar Kamani, the CEO and founder of the brand posted a statement on Instagram, saying: “We have regrettably had to turn off next day delivery and certain discounts in order to catch up on our current orders getting sent out.

“This is not something we wanted to do but my number one focus is to never let you, the customer down. This is a temporary backlog due to overwhelming demand.”

Based in the UK, the online fashion retailer aimed at 16-34 year old women has been growing steadily since being acquired by Boohoo in 2017. In the last financial year, the e-tailer achieved a stellar 228% increase in sales to £181.3m, boosting Boohoo’s total sales to £579.8m.

These results were even more impressive given the challenging trading conditions in the UK clothing sector, which have impacted the recent performance of established fashion brands including House of Fraser and New Look.

PrettyLittleThing’s rapid growth has been driven by its strong social media presence and celebrity tie-ups (the brand has been endorsed by big name celebrities including Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner). At the end of February 2018, the e-tailer had 3 million active customers, up 128% on the prior year.

In the first three months of the new financial year, the company’s revenues increased by a further 158% to £79.2.