The luxury retail industry in Australia is worth over $4 billion and is projected to grow at 2.4% per annum over the next four years. This growth is driven by increases in real household income, strong demand for online shopping and positive perceptions of luxury brands.
Unfortunately, the global pandemic has negatively impacted many industries, including luxury retail. International shoppers are a lifeblood of the sector, and with the nation’s borders being shut indefinitely, luxury brands have been feeling the squeeze.
When many luxury brands think about financing large projects such as launching new stores or product lines, they often see their funding options coming from traditional banks while being subjected to mountains of paperwork and endless hold music.
But what if big money doesn’t always need to come with a big headache? One luxury retailer was about to find out.
After aggressively launching in Melbourne in 2013 and disrupting the handbag game, this retailer now has six store locations nationally, and employs over 150 people.
With a unique and innovative business model, the brand offered a bricks and mortar Showroom Style solution to consumers looking to purchase hard to find shoes, apparel and bags from brands such as Dior, Valentino, Bottega Veneta, Off White, Loewe and The Row to name a few.
With some bags at the top of the range selling for well over $7,000, they certainly don’t come cheap.
COVID hit the retailer hard. Empty streets and empty cities meant empty stores and a huge loss in cash flow. Thanks to an online presence the brand was still able to trade – but the impact of the pandemic significantly impacted its turnover.
Towards the end of 2020, the luxury retailer needed to come up with $2.5 million to embark on a new project. Given the pandemic, the retailer kept getting knocked back on funding requests from several banks and had other non-bank lenders incapable of providing the sizable funds they were after.
Since first establishing a relationship with the retailer in mid-2020, Bizcap has, to date, been able to provide the finance to fund the retailer’s combined businesses 12 times to a total of $2.6 million.
With an average deal size of $240,000, these ongoing loans have enabled this luxury brand to maintain a healthy cash flow, keep up with stock demands as well as achieving its vision of building its biggest store yet.
Fast forward to 2021, four lockdowns and thousands of handbags later, the brand is set to open its new store. Although our borders remain shut and uncertainty about the opening date continues, the retailer is projecting $250,000 a week in sales from the new store alone.
As government assistance for the retail industry declines in preparation for a post-pandemic world, Bizcap continues to support the cash flow needs of businesses of all sizes.
With a SME lender focused on providing fast solutions and large loan sizes, Bizcap is ready and willing to fund up to $1 million to help with your business’s cash flow needs – just as we’ve been able to support this particular retailer.
