Australian fashion and lifestyle platform The Iconic has reported a 9.4 per cent lift in its net merchandise value (NMV) for the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the same time in 2023.
This is according to the platform’s parent company Global Fashion Group (GFG), which also manages similar platforms in Latin America (Dafiti) and Southeast Asia (Zalora).
As well as a lift in NMV – the net value of the total value of goods sold by a company – The Iconic also recorded a gross margin of 48.8 per cent, three percentage points above the GFG group total of 45.6 per cent.
According to GFG, The Iconic’s Q4 performance was a result of several initiatives, including its ‘Got You Looking’ masterbrand campaign, integration of Southeast Asia operations and warehouse management system and investments in AI.
For the full-year 2024, The Iconic recorded total NMV of €515.2 million (~$877.74 million), down 3.3 per cent, with revenue down 4.8 per cent to €357.9 million. The Iconic's gross profit for the year was up slightly to €167.1 million at a margin of 46.7 per cent.
Commenting on the results, The Iconic CEO Jere Calmes said 2024 was a pivotal year for the fashion platform.
“The growth has been propelled by strategic initiatives including investing in our tech stack and harnessing AI to enhance user experience and improve operational efficiencies,” Calmes said.
“These innovations place us in a strong position to focus on profitability as we move into 2025.”
The Iconic’s lift in NMV for Q4 was joined by a 2.4 per cent lift in NMV for GFG’s Dafiti platform in Latin America. This was offset by a 20.3 per cent fall in NMV for Zalora in Southeast Asia.
All up, GFG’s total NMV fell 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, well-up from the 14 per cent fall in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“In 2024, we made significant strides to position GFG for long-term success and sustainable future growth,” GFG CEO Christoph Barchewitz said. “Our focus on customer engagement and assortment relevancy helped us attract customers back to our platforms and drove a gradual improvement in topline performance.
“By Q4, we stabilised NMV trends in our largest markets with LATAM and ANZ returning to growth. Notably, we achieved this whilst increasing both gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin significantly.
“We are proud of the tangible progress achieved in 2024 and entered 2025 committed to building on this momentum to continue our clear trajectory toward our financial ambitions of positive adjusted EBITDA and breakeven normalised free cash flow.”
GFG set its full-year guidance for 2025, and expects to deliver year-on-year NMV in a range of plus or minus 5 per cent on a constant currency basis. This implies €1 billion to €1.1 billion of NMV (~A$1.70 billion to 1.87 billion).
The group’s primary objective for 2025 is to reach adjusted EBITDA breakeven, despite the difficulty in predicting year-on-year NMV due to external factors.
“This guidance reflects GFG’s ongoing focus on prioritising profit and cash flow over topline growth, whilst still expecting improved NMV performance compared to 2024.
“This improvement is based on positive topline trends observed in Q4 2024 and the first two months of 2025.”