Generous APE

Idea

Introduction

Demand for sustainable fashion has grown three-fold during lockdown with 62% of millennial shoppers wanting to look and shop more sustainably. Generous APE is built on transparency between us, the brands and the customers. We believe that honesty will always be the strongest essence of sustainability.

David Walker-Smith ex Exec Buying Director Selfridges, curates the edit to ultimately ensure that you “don’t have to sacrifice style to shop sustainably”. We have successfully completed beta testing with 80 brands. The due diligence we insist on ensures that our standards are met. We are on a mission to partner with circa 200 brands.

The marketplace is called Generous APE, with APE being an acronym for Animal, People and Environment – the things that matter most to us, our brands and customers.

The online marketplace hosts extraordinary brands and products that all give back in some way to good causes and share our values and resonate with consumers. We have identified many brands on our database and have launched with 70 curated brands. The number of brands will grow organically as the business evolves.

Before we partner with a brand, they will be put through the Generous APE curation process.

Substantial accomplishments to date

2019
· Hugo Empson forms a working party with his father, David. David previously launched and managed new brands to market including Boots clothing "Mini Club" and Sainsbury's "Tu".
· Creode is signed - digital agency that builds brands through technical expertise and creative marketing.
· Creode invest in Generous APE.
· Bob Caren joins. A highly experienced business and brand facilitator.

2020
· David Walker-Smith ex Selfridges B&M Director joins.
· Negotiations begin with 80 style led, sustainable brands.
· The website is created.
· DHL GO GREEN contract signed as our primary delivery partner.
· Created BRANDS IN ACTION highlighting the innovations and solutions our brands deliver.
· Created CONSCIOUS JOURNAL focusing on global climate change issues, but we ensure that we have a positive voice, celebrating the successes that are helping to reduce the risks.

2021
· End Jan, beta testing is successfully launched.
· 30 more brands partner with Generous APE bringing the total to 80 brands including 10 game changing trainer brands.
· We are shortlisted for Website of the year.
· Signed partnership with World Land Trust on the buy an acre scheme.
· March – In partnership with digital marketing agency, Ortus, roll out with marketing strategy
· April – Kitty joins as Account Manager. This takes all the brand onboarding, product categorisation and customer service in house, reducing agency costs and maximising consumer end to end experience.

Monetisation strategy

We generate revenue from sales from www.generousape.com. Through our 8 weeks of beta testing we had on average 450 visitors a week with 47.62% being returning customers. Average basket value is £89.

We use a drop ship model, therefore we don’t carry any stock and have no markdown costs that would have radically reduced margin. Our commission is benchmarked against the competition and is between 25-30% on every sale.

Future revenue will be driven from paid marketing content, sponsorship of podcast pages and brand paid partnerships. We will focus on three key proven revenue streams:

· Paid advertising on our website.
· Subscription model for everyday goods e.g. coffee, cleaning & washing products, socks & underwear
· Strong vision for bricks and mortar/online pop-ups.

Use of proceeds

We have a business model that is easily scalable quickly expanding best-selling categories. Your investment will go into four key areas.

· Optimisation of marketing & usability, to drive sales & community and overall exposure of the Generous APE brand.
· To invest in both the organic growth channels and paid media to communicate the mission, drive footfall and conversion, delivering revenue and profit.
· To constantly improve the consumer experience through great functionality and end to end experience
· To develop a personalised dashboard for each customer quantifying the customers shopping actions and the impact that they have generated.

· The planned spend/investment in the first three months will be £30k which will be 17% of the target £175k raise.
· The balance of £145k will be principally invested in Digital Marketing and Social Media £110k (76%) and £30k on salaries / other monthly recurring costs
· With the site launched and now generating revenues we will continue to optimise cash management.