Australia’s Bond-Eye Group has bounced back from "big pain" issues that arose from the pandemic, reporting revenue growth of 300% in FY22 from FY19 across all brands.
The business navigated $10 million worth of cancelled orders in March 2020, when retail had shut down globally.
Speaking with Ragtrader, Bond-Eye Group CEO Steve Philpott said that each of its brands - Bond-Eye Swim, Sea Level, Artesands and Nip Tuck Swim - has their respective achievements.
“Collectively, we have a very healthy northern hemisphere business which accounts for approximately 70% of our turnover,” Philpott said.
With its foundation brand Bond-Eye, its retail distribution spans 31 countries, including several stores in the US and Canada, and a handful across Europe.
“We have had an encouraging start to the local season despite the weather, and people are buying swim,” Philpott continued. “I believe the demand for our brands will continue as we move into the Northern Hemisphere Spring.
“We see opportunity ahead; we are a hybrid model, predominately driven by wholesale with a significant and growing eCommerce business, and we have flexibility to move where the opportunities are.”
Philpott noted that the Group recently showed all three brands at its 8th Miami Swim Week in July, and is consolidating and growing its US and Canadian account base.
“We also just showed Bond-Eye at NY and Paris Fashion Week in September and are building our footprint in key European markets with key European retailers,” he revealed. “All market presence has been very encouraging and very worthwhile in terms of distribution and relationship building.”
The Group’s Sea Level brand has also signed an agency deal in the UK, with the brand further releasing a line of fully recycled swimwear to complement its recycled nylon elastane base fabric.
“It’s an exciting initiative that will create a 98% recycled garment stamp,” Philpott said. “The line will be in a range of prints that will be delivered to stores in May 2023 onwards.”
The ongoing growth of the Group and its brands is credited to its successful navigation of various pandemic issues. It began with the reported cancellation of $10 million worth of orders.
“By the end of that US summer, we were playing catch up as we tried to meet the demand,” Philpott explained. “From there, we, along with everyone in the industry, experienced Covid-related delays, the doubling of shipping times, entire port and city shutdowns in China, port congestion and the list goes on. A big pain.
“We basically did what we needed to do to mitigate each and every new circumstance as it arose. We remained focused, committed and leant into our relationships.
“Our business is built on relationships, we value and enjoy them immensely and they have been a major factor as we collectively worked together to keep trading and building.”
For the future, Bond-Eye Group is preparing for the expected recession. Philpott noted that he has seen retail open to buy grow increasingly tighter in the US, Canada and Europe in the second half of the last summer season and into resort, “which we have thankfully countered in Spring 23 through expanded distribution in Europe.”
“We are already dealing with inflation and the increasing costs of goods, exorbitant logistics costs and market uncertainty,” he continued. “We are revising our inventory strategy accordingly though we still believe in being able to replenish best selling stock.
“Creating greater efficiencies within our supply chain and internal processes, utilising IT and more considered planning is how we will meet these challenges.”