Adore Me

Adore Me
Private
Founded 2012
Founder Morgan Hermand-Waiche
Headquarters New York, New York
Products Underwear, Lingerie, Swimwear
Website adoreme.com

Adore Me is a women’s intimates company based in New York City. The company sells its products online through a monthly subscription service or as stand-alone products.

History

Adore Me was founded by Morgan Hermand-Waiche.[1] He got the idea for Adore Me in 2010 while in his second year of Harvard Business School’s M.B.A program. He was shopping for a gift for his girlfriend, and couldn’t find an option that he felt was high quality and also within his budget. An affordable alternative became the inspiration behind Adore Me.[2] Hermand-Waiche spent three years working at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company prior to Adore Me.[3]

Initial investors in Adore Me include Hermand Waiche’s Harvard professors,[2] and angel investors Fabrice Grinda and Jose Marin.[1] The company officially launched its website in March 2012.[4] In the same year, Adore Me raised $2.5 million in its second round of funding with investments from Redhills Ventures, Jaina Capital, Ventech Capital, and other US angel investors. Adore Me reportedly sold 100,000 items in their first year of business.[5]

In July 2013, Adore Me raised $8.5 million from investors in a Series B round of funding. Investors included Upfront Ventures, Redhills Ventures, and Mousse Partners.[6][5]

In 2014, Adore Me was listed as the second fastest-growing private retail company on the Inc. 5000 list based on their 2013 sales of $5.6 million.[7] They went on to generate $16.2 million in sales in 2014.[8]

Adore Me established headquarters in New York City. They have no physical stores and sell products through their website and mobile app.[5][9] As of 2014, they have 54 full-time employees.[10]

Products and Membership

Adore Me products include lingerie, sleepwear, swimwear, and related apparel. Bra sizes range from 32A to 44G.[11] Current head of design, Helen Mears, formerly worked as head designer of the Angels brand at Victoria’s Secret.[12]

The brand has been compared to Zara regarding pricing and its practice of fast-fashion production.[5][6] Adore Me uses a subscription-based membership model, known as “VIP Membership.” Members shop through personalized “showrooms.” Products are then shipped free to the customer.[1][2]

Marketing

Adore Me has used A/B testing to test the performance of its lingerie models. They will test the same product on two different models or the same model with two different poses, and compare sales from each.[13] The company has crowd-sourced customers using polls on its website to determine which product users like best before sending that product into production.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Perez, Sarah. "Adore Me Raises $2.5 Million For Personalized Lingerie Showrooms". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Max, Sarah. "For Valentine’s Day, Adore Me Takes On Victoria’s Secret and Other Bigger Lingerie Rivals". New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "The First Five Years: Morgan Hermand-Waiche (MBA 2010)". Harvard Business School. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Carney, Michael. "Intimates etailer Adore Me pads its bank with $8.5 million in Series B funding". Pando. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Shontell, Alyson. "Man Raises $8.5 Million For Victoria's Secret Killer, AdoreMe, Which Sells Half-Price Lingerie". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 Ruth, João-Pierre S. "Lingerie E-Commerce Site Adore Me, Developed at Harvard, Raises $8.5M". Xconomy. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "The 2014 Inc. 5000". Inc. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  8. ↑ Zaroban, Stefany. "Second 500 newcomers skip ahead of their older rivals". Internet Retailer. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Olenski, Steve. "David And Goliath Part II - The Women's Bracket". Forbes. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "2014 Year in Review". Adore Me. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  11. ↑ O'Brien, Sara Ashley. "Plus-size models sell more bras". CNN Money. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Yamagata, Erin. "AdoreMe". thestyleline.com. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Greenfield, Rebecca. "This Lingerie Company A/B Tests the World's Hottest Women To See Who Makes You Click "Buy"". Fast Company. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Booth, Barbara. "A sexy way to fuel business growth—and profits". CNBC. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
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