Trilogy chases online sales

Sarah Gibbs.

Skincare products and scented candle company Trilogy International is aiming for an up to four-fold increase in online sales as it targets the increasing number of consumers shopping on the internet.

Web-based sales on the Trilogy and Ecoya websites are expected to reach about $700,000 in the company's current financial year, which ends on March 31.

While that's only 2.5 per cent of the forecast revenue of $30 million, it would be a rise of 24 per cent on the previous 12-month period.

Chief executive Stephen Sinclair said there was plenty more room for growth.

"We think we can grow [online sales] by three or four times quite quickly," he said, adding such an increase could take place in as little as 18 months.

New Zealanders spent $2.7 billion online in the year to September, according to BNZ's Online Retail Sales Index.

In September Trilogy appointed e-commerce and consumer marketing specialist Mandy Sigaloff as an independent director.

Sydney-based Sigaloff recently launched styledistrict.com.au, the first of a number of websites set to be launched by the District Group.

At Trilogy's annual meeting last month, Sinclair said Trilogy had brought Sigaloff on board with the aim of pulling off a "step change" in the firm's online presence.

Sigaloff said she had been "immersed" in online marketing, e-commerce and social media for the past 15 years.

"With online marketing and social media, everyday there's something new out there," she said. "You've got to really immerse yourself in it to keep up with it."

Sigaloff said Trilogy was targeting affiliate networks of bloggers who it could work with to promote the Ecoya and Trilogy brands.

Trilogy non-executive director Sarah Gibbs, who co-founded Trilogy in 2003 and sold the company to Ecoya in 2010, said the company was performing well under its new ownership structure and had grown sales by 60 per cent since the sale.

Ecoya paid $10 million for Trilogy and settled earn-out provisions by paying $4.6 million in cash and issuing 4.6 million new shares to its former owners.

Ecoya was rebranded Trilogy International earlier this year as the skincare brand dominates sales over its scented candle business.