Booktopia Reports Stellar Growth in HY21

Booktopia is reporting a 51 percent increase in revenue to $112.6 million in its recently released HY21 results. Its underlying EBITDA has skyrocketed 502 percent to $8 million.

Booktopia reported 51.7 million platform visitors throughout FY20, with more than five million customers and 2.3 million return shoppers.

For HY21, there were 4.2 million orders shipped, compared to 3.2 million in HYF20.

Following its launch on the ASX, Booktopia is reporting a 39 percent increase in total units shipped and a 25 percent lift in Active Customers.

Booktopia’s real-time reporting and analytics have further driven ‘above-average’ conversion rates, Nash explained.

“Our data and proprietary algorithms are central to our ability to understand our customers and ensure their experience is second to none in Australia,” he said.

As such, Booktopia is now the leading online book e-commerce platform in Australia, with a six percent market share of the total market and almost 15 percent penetration of online book sales in Australia.

With these results, the retailer is on its way to achieving its forecast that was outlined in its IPO prospectus.

“The demand we experienced from the beginning of the 2020 calendar year extended right through to Christmas, helping us to deliver the largest half-year revenue in the company’s history,” said Tony Nash, the CEO and Founder of Booktopia.

“Our investment in expanding capacity and automation ensured we were able to continue to meet our customer promise despite the unparalleled growth in volumes.”

Throughout 2020, Booktpia invested $12 million to the expansion of its 14,000 sqm DC in Lidcombe.  This investment has helped increase delivery times, ad doubling the capacity for the retailer.

“The investment in our distribution centre together with our strong balance sheet means we are well-positioned to absorb future demand growth in a profitable and sustainable manner,” said Nash.

The expansion of the DC includes some of the ‘most advanced’ automation technology in the country, is a ‘culmination of many years of planning and millions of dollars of investment in hardware, software and stock,” Nash explained.

“We already had the largest and most advanced book distribution facility in the country, now it is bigger and faster,” he said.

“We will continue our growth strategy, investing in key areas of the business to cement our online market leadership and drive increased market share. This includes the continued expansion of our Publishing Services and Booktopia Publishing businesses.”

Like this story? Click here to find out more about Power Retail E-Commerce Intelligence or here to sign-up for the free weekly Pulse Newsletter for more essential online retail content.