Made has pulled ahead of the struggling furniture market posting skyrocketing sales in its full-year results as it continues to mull an IPO.
Throughout 2017 the online furniture retailer saw sales jump 40 per cent to £127 million, continuing its upward trajectory after posting similar growth a year prior.
This comes after Made secured £40 million through another funding round, which resulted in the retailer bagging its first ever institutional investor.
The anonymous backer will join Partech Ventures, Level Equity and Eight Roads Ventures, all of which have offered investment amid previous funding drives.
It is understood that the majority of the money raised will go towards marketing as its chief executive Philippe Chainieux pushes for expansion across the EU and online, while toying with the idea of taking the company public.
“We’ve been on the IPO track for years. It’s a modality, not a strategy,” Chainieux said.
“We are happy with the route we are on, it’s (the IPO) one of the many options we have.
“People are getting more confident buying big-ticket items online. This shift is once in a generation.”
Made attributes its strong performance to its supply chain’s agility. As it manufactures and distributes all of its own products without the need for any third-party involvement, it is able to move far quicker than its rivals.
This also allows the retailer to produce items that are not available anywhere else, a strategy that Chainieux thinks is essential to safeguard against the likes of Amazon.
“You need to build brands and a unique proposition. It is not possible to compete if you have the same product as Amazon,” he said.
“Don’t fight on the service or the price. The people who will be successful develop their own product.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
