The lingerie brand challenging Victoria’s Secret

Because its product range is so extensive, the site encourages shoppers to answer a seven-question style quiz and relevant sizing questions, to create their customized style profile. By doing so, Adore Me is able to generate a customized “showroom” for each shopper, which learns a customer’s preferences the more they browse and buy.

For frequent buyers, Adore Me also offers a VIP membership that gives shoppers a free bra and panty set every six orders, and $10 off each set. Members have to visit their personalized showroom between the 1st and 5th of each month to indicate whether they will make a purchase or pass; if they forget, they will be charged a $39.95 in the form of a store credit that can be used on future purchases.

This custom model has helped Adore Me not only attract but retain customers three and four years later, Hermand-Waiche said. It’s managed to do so all the while fighting against Victoria’s Secret’s extensive marketing budget and economies of scale, which enable it to produce high-quality products at a moderate price.

IBISWorld analyst Britanny Carter said Adore Me’s decision to operate exclusively on the web helped it level the playing field in terms of production costs. But running a brand online only also presents its challenges — including the all-important issue of fit.

“That’s one of the reasons why Victoria’s Secret is doing so well,” Carter said. “You can go and try on the items in person.”

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Dairy firm and lingerie maker woo HK investors

Milking cows and racy lace wear will compete for investor attention today as order books open on a year-end flurry of mid-cap initial public offerings expected to headline an otherwise subdued market.

Dairy operator Lanzhou Zhuangyuan Pasture, based in the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, hopes to overcome investor wariness towards a health-scare-plagued sector and raise up to HK$275 million through the placement of 35.13 million shares priced between HK$4.98 and HK$7.83.

China Partytime Culture Holdings, a costume and lingerie manufacturer, plans to raise up to HK$211.9 million by selling 187.5 million shares, or 15 per cent of its enlarged capital, at between 93 HK cents and HK$1.13 each in its bid to build factories and e-commerce centres.

The two offerings are reflective of a current market focus on smaller firms after a near 30 per cent fall in the Hang Seng Index since April forced many companies to postpone listing plans.

“The momentum of new listings has been slightly falling on the main board but picking up on the GEM board. We expect more small and medium-sized companies to go public in the next months, lift sentiments, and usher in bigger deals towards November and December, which is usually the peak season for IPOs in this market,” said Benson Wong, an assurance partner at PwC Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is on target for 120 new listings, raising about HK$240 billion, this year, with 92 per cent of new issuers during the first nine months coming from mainland China, PwC data showed.

Companies would need to price themselves keenly to attract investors in this environment, said Francis Lun, the chief executive of GEO Securities.

At 8.54 times price-earnings, assuming a midpoint listing price of HK$6.40, private-equity-backed Lanzhou Zhuangyuan would be noticeably cheaper than the 16.12 times price-earnings ratio at larger rival China Mengniu Dairy.

“The market conditions are not good,” Lun said. “Everybody is losing money so who is going to buy stocks?”

It is the milk producer’s third listing attempt after earlier efforts to list in Singapore and Shenzhen went sour.

Lanzhou Zhuangyuan’s net profits grew an annualised 9.7 per cent to 65.4 million yuan between 2012 and 2014 while earnings per share rose an annualised 9.2 per cent to 62 fen over the same period, the firm’s listing prospectus showed.

Profits at China Partytime rose 57.46 per cent from a year earlier to 58.58 million yuan last year, according to the firm’s prospectus. The Jiangxi-based firm says it has switched its focus from overseas to domestic markets, citing a growing interest in costumes and lingerie in China.

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