The Cettire Ltd (ASX:CTT) share price has been among the best performers on the ASX so far this year.
Shares in the online fashion retailer have skyrocketed by a whopping 524% — from a low of just $0.49 at the beginning of the year, to the current price of $3.06 (at the time of writing). That includes a gain of 2.68% in early trade today.
The fashion company now has a market capitalisation of more than $1.1 billion.
Company background
Cettire is an online retailer specialising in luxury designer brands, such as Gucci, Prada, and Valentino.
The company has grown quickly since its launch in 2017 and now stocks more than 160,000 items of clothing, shoes, bags, and other accessories.
While the company originally only catered to adults, it has also recently launched a childrenswear division.
Recent financials
In news that could be affecting the Cettire share price, the company released its FY21 results to the market on 31 August. The company performed well across the board, beating its own prospectus forecast and upgraded earnings guidance.
Sales revenues increased by a staggering 304% year-on-year (to $92.4 million), underpinned by a 285% increase in active customers. Also noteworthy was the fact that a higher proportion of the company's revenues came from repeat customers: 40% in FY21, versus just 26% in FY20.
This is a promising sign and shows the company is beginning to build a degree of brand loyalty among its customers. It reflects well not just on the company's product offering, but also on the customer experience Cettire provides through its online store.
Commenting on the results, Cettire Founder and CEO Dean Mintz said he was "particularly proud of the substantial increase in active customers, very strong revenue growth, robust product margins and the increasing proportion of revenues from repeat customers".
Other news possibly affecting the Cettire share price
The company also launched its own proprietary e-commerce storefront earlier in August. This means that Cettire will no longer rely on third parties to manage its website, and it can own the customer experience from end to end.
The move also means that Cettire now has increased flexibility to expand globally and can more quickly and easily scale its operations.
Dean Mintz said that the shift towards proprietary software represented "the culmination of an extensive engineering program and is a key milestone in the execution of [Cettire's] technology strategy, providing considerable flexibility to increase penetration of existing markets and take advantage of adjacent opportunities".
Cettire share price snapshot
The Cettire share price has been steadily gathering momentum throughout the year, possibly on the back of the success of other e-commerce upstarts like plus-size women's retailer City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX:CCX) and online furniture store Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX:TPW).
The Cettire share price did spike after the release of its FY21 financial results. Since 31 August, Cettire shares have gained a further 15%, continuing a remarkable run for the young company.
