Musical instrument and equipment marketplace Gear4Music has had a harmonious year, seeing sales rise to the tune of 43% year-on-year, on revenues of £80million.
The rousing surge in sales has been driven by conducting greater amounts of business in Europe, which saw sales up £35.8million – a growth of nearly 70% on last year. In the UK sales were up 27% to £44.3million.
A crescendo in site conversion rates – which have risen from 2.75% to 3.25% – has helped drive the growth, as has a rise in customers of nearly 40% to just shy of 500,000.
The York-based music retail site sells musical instruments and equipment under its own brand as well as from names including Fender, Yamaha and Gibson. Its business model is predominantly online but it has a showroom in York and has recently opened one in Sweden. It also has distribution centres in York, Sweden and Germany and delivers to more than 190 countries in total. Its strategy is one of growth through international expansion.
“We are very pleased to have grown our revenues from £56m last year to £80m this year, particularly given the heightened economic uncertainty that has impacted many retailers during the last 12 months. We are confident that we are well placed to significantly grow both revenues and profitability during the next 12 months, as margins normalise, and the up-front investments we have made clearly demonstrate their ongoing value to the business.”
Andrew Wass, CEO, Gear4Music
