Ebtm Share Discussion Threads

[baheid101] 01/9/2008 12:22

On the positive side, here is an excellent example of the affiliate program working well.

This website maidenfans.com is a popular Iron Maiden fansite and they have an 'online store' with Iron Maiden products that is actually an EBTM widget created using the affiliate networks publishing tools. Maidenfans.com gets 10% of the value of any sales that the site generates for EBTM. Notice how an enlarged picture effortlessly pops up when the mouse rolls over each product - this is very user friendly as punters don;t even need to click to take a closer look at products that catch their eye.

[polopolo2] 29/8/2008 20:05

Dissapointing, (any particular reason for this) ;

RNS Number : 3257C


EBTM PLC
29 August 2008

29 August 2008

EBTM plc ("the Company")

Holding in Company

Dale Masters notified the Company on 28 August 2008 that, as of 22 August 2008, the voting rights held by him in the Company were 23,898,696, representing 8.8 per cent. of the total voting rights of the Company.

Enquiries

EBTM plc


Richard Breeden, Chief Executive 020 7819 1950


This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange


END

HOLEAFPNADSPEFE

[malkie] 29/8/2008 17:50

Baheid - Spot on. Hardcloud presentation is the bench mark.

They have had long enough to get this right, perhaps there are some limitations with Maginus system?? either way they need to raise their game.

Im not sure what to make of it, but they seem to be gravitating towards pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap'.

Margins are bound to suffer, I just hope they are hitting some serious volumes both wholesale & online.

[baheid101] 29/8/2008 16:35

here is an example about product display. Compare how Hardcloud show this shirt/tie combo with EBTM


ebtmcom.aspx

[baheid101] 29/8/2008 16:18

I asked the CEO about how they were modelling the impact of the warehouse move around the time of the downgrade to expectations before the last results, and he assured that the assumptions were uber conservative, but we will see on that. The appointment of a proper FD is reassuring in this regard

[baheid101] 29/8/2008 16:13

Niggle / THFC1

I absolutely share your concerns about the heavy promotions. I bought four Atticus items yesterday that were over 50% discounted, got a further 20% off using the discount code, and a further 10% cashback from clicking through quidco. I know their gross margins on own brand are huge but even so, it smacks of desperation to clear stock. My instinct is that they are moving stuff quickly ahead of the warehouse move and are going to take a not insignificant hit to the bottom line as a result.

I remember ASOS screwing up two consecutive warehouse moves back in the day and having to discount aggressively to get clear of stock. Its not necessarily a deal breaker on holding the stock, which i do, but it certainly makes me nervous about current forecasts.

I am pretty disappointed with their execution on the ecommerce side at the moment. Since losing their marketing director Hattie Fawcett their marketing seems to be rudderless. Their email communications are too short, infrequent, and as a resuult are not maximising the sales potential from their established customer base and their affiliate program seems to have gone quiet since they took its management away from Jessica Luthli. The website also has not really improved much with product displays still really inconsistent. Without a zoom feature it is very difficult to see enough detail on a lot of lines - particularly those that are dark colours. With some items you would have to be mad to purchase because you really can't make out any of the detail. These are basics, but if they were improved could dramatically transform conversion rates, and hence full price sales, and avoid this heavy discounting.

On the plus side the Atticus distribution in the states seems to be gaining traction with good hard promotional graft visible on the Vans Warped Tour, Hot Topic stocking Atticus t-shirts. There seems to be lots of bands spotted wearing the gear e.g. Muse

[tushface] 29/8/2008 14:07

Its the economy, stupid.

We are in the rag trade selling job lots.

The market has changed, the world has changed and right now people are looking for a bargain.

The good news is this company is vertically intergrated with low costs and low overheads.

look for the lines they didnt carry before - the ones they have been buying in job lots from bankcrupt competitors.
t-shirts for 50p or less selling for a fiver.

Gross margins are reducing but exploding sales are more than making up the difference.

the time for worrying was 6 months ago - adapt or die.

check out the kerrang shop & play.com - they are making bundles from this and cant get enough - next stop NME

[thfc 1] 29/8/2008 13:34

niggle i can see your point on the discounting:

1000's of products reduced to less than 1/4 of original selling price

then further 20% off avaialble (with voucher)

plus free carraige!

where does the profit come from? I can see why the share price is so depressed at the moment. Looking at the site today it looks more like a closing down sale.

I also note very little new product being added recently (Other than some tired looking rehashed atticus dead bird stuff), this is supposed to be a fashion business!!! ASOS are adding new lines every day.

What is happening at ebtm, it looked so good when i bought in they were adding excellent new designs from the likes of gio goi and fenchurch etc. now it seems like a mosher store just selling atticus and criminal damage? What happened to music inspired fashion, surley they need to be selling a more varied range?

Anyone else share these concerns?

[niggle] 29/8/2008 11:51

polopolo2 - You are so wide of the mark in your post its untrue. How can you compare the old Hepworths with their ailing shop portfolio and lowly share price to a web shop selling band merchandise that owns a fairly unproven new brand. You might as well have put up a quote about Polly Peck!


Anyway to business:

Why are they giving a 20% off voucher for nearly a whole month????

Merchant: Everything But The Music (ID 129)

Voucher Code: 20SEPT

Description: 20% off voucher, including sale items

Start Date: 29/08/2008

Expiry Date: 20/09/2008

[polopolo2] 29/8/2008 08:57

Could EBTM follow where others have lead?;

Taken from Times online;

6. Next

Although this UK clothing retailer has suffered a sharp fall in the past year, those who got on board the shares in the depths of the previous recession, in December 1990, have reaped a rich reward. Ben Yearsley, of Hargreaves Lansdown, the independent financial adviser, says the shares hit £24 in the first half of 2007 - a 17,600 per cent rise on their December 1990 price of 13.5p. Someone who held £5,624 worth of Next shares in December 1990 would, in early 2007, have had a holding worth more than £1 million, though the recent market slide would have more than halved that figure

[niggle] 25/8/2008 13:58

Atticus/EBTM at Leeds yesterday

[doowle] 25/8/2008 12:56

Still waiting to buy back at 2.5 after I sold at 4.25.
Patience is a virtue :)

[granny7] 19/8/2008 22:33

Wow... nothing like a celebrity endorsing a product and EBTM.com's PR agency PinkMangoPR.com seems to just work their magic every time getting those references.

Anouska Sawyer and Joanne Miller both ex ASOS pr girls quit ASOS to set up their own business and have never looked back. These girls are PR machines and EBTM.com could not have chosen a better PR agency. Joanne and Anouska know their fashion possibly even before the High Streets. I get such a kick out of their EBTM PR as I know this will have an effect on EBTM's affiliate program, driving consumers to search Rolling Stones T-shirt as seen on Paris Hilton (get her style or similar). Also in this bit of PR its good for EBTM to be seen sitting next to Top Shop and ASOS

We are working with Stand-Out.Net (new client more details soon) who also use PinkMangoPR.com and of course Discoo work with them too.

Advice for merchants, if you do offline PR, make sure you make reference to it on your website, keep the offline consumer journey to your site and to the product a seamless/effortless experience

We are also seeing a new type of affiliate emerge, the ones that spend money off line on PR as a different way to acquire new traffic. From where I sit, it works. Traditional combined with organic search and paid search, a winning combination!

[granny7] 18/8/2008 14:42

You still unloading Lloyd? perhaps need the cash to buy the petrol for the boat!! LOL

[granny7] 18/8/2008 13:14

Someone is moping up a few of Lloyds shares today.

[greengiant] 16/8/2008 17:18

dixi - I tended to use traffic estimate as a benchmark - with the idea that if it is wrong it is consistently wrong and still produces a trend.

This is historically the quietest time for EBTM, with the pick-up starting in late Sept early Aug. My main worry with EBTM, is the wholesale part of the business, which is more prone to economic slowdown that online fashion aimed at the 14 - 30 year olds.

Saying that I do believe that EBTM will post satisfactory full year numbers, whether it is appreciated by the market is another matter - but I do believe it is not worth getting into for a few months yet.

gg

[dixi] 14/8/2008 21:13

Interesting greengiant - especially when you check out asos.com, although amazon drops a little. Maybe it is EBTM's market being dragged on holiday?

How accurate is the stats site?

[lloydebtm] 14/8/2008 19:20

I have about 2.8% at the moment (sorry I didn't give the exact amount to the penny, just rounded it up to £250k)...

Just sold 1 million today though to buy a boat (Sunseeker Mexico 24), secondhand but I don't know how to drive a boat but I will learn :)

Now got £219k worth (and £386.57p) :)

The sale is not a sign of the times, they sell more when it looks like a bargain, it is common practice with stores (I do it as well).

Think about it, they now have most stuff made, reducing the cost dramatically, belts are made for about £2 (thats how much I can have them made in India for 500 of each style in each size), put up retail cost of £19.99 but put it on sale for £14.99. Customer think WOW I will save 25% and buy it... Profit of £12.99 to EBTM...

It is just clever marketing...

Lloyd

[greengiant] 14/8/2008 18:10

Just popping in to see if these offer good value yet, what is your views on the slight downtrend in the following?



Think I may hold on for a little bit yet....

gg

PS - type www.ebtm.com into the box ;-)

[clueless] 14/8/2008 09:25

Yeah doowIE the numbers dont tie up

250k at todays prices would be about 8.5m shares >3%
250k only bought at 2.5p would be 10m shares >3%
Sell at £2 for £10m would be 5m shares

[malkie] 12/8/2008 12:32

polo - re the never ending sale - the same thing happened last summer, its a sign of the times. I have also noticed they are offering loads of stuff not previously stocked, which could indicate they have been buying in job lots of bankrupt/over-stock to clear out cheap.

They have always offered free delivery, so its not something they are likely to change.

They boast high margins (55%+) so regular clearance look like a sustainable part of the model. How these margins will hold up against rapid growth remains to be seen.

As of results online business through EBTM represented only 35% of total sales, the other 65% was wholesale.

doowie - 3% is the declarable I believe.

[doowle] 12/8/2008 08:50

You are required to disclose £250k holdings.
Fibbing?

[polopolo2] 12/8/2008 08:44

Two things bother me at present;

1. They would appear to have a never ending sale

2. Free postage on everything must affect margins - asos charge for P&P so why don't ebtm?

[lloydebtm] 12/8/2008 01:28

Malkie,

Great posts, seems no one using this Bulletin Board much at the moment but I keep looking in.

Very interesting the Dailymotion broadcast :)

We both know that we are sitting on a share price time-bomb that is going to explode out of all proportions, it's just a matter of time. It is just so frustrating waiting for it to take off (especially cos I have got £250k tied up in shares) but it will be worth the wait.

I reckon another 2 year and 8 months and we will be sitting on a goldmine (just three more Xmas's).

By using my growth forecasts (related to my online companies), I think profit of £1.9 mill May 2009, £3.0 mill May 2010, £5 mill May 2011.

The shares should be priced at £2 in May 2011 if my forecasts are correct and if there is any justice in this world. I should be able to retire with £10 mill in the bank (I have only been buying shares at 2.5p per share).

The EBTM model is better then the ASOS model and world market penetration will be eaiser, a goth is a goth or an emo an emo in whatever country but with ASOS they will struggle after a while and their profits and share price will plateau.

Lloyd :)