Launched in January 2020, The Edit LDN is a global online destination for limited sneakers and streetwear. Here, RLI sits down with company CEO Moses Rashid to learn more, discuss the brand’s monumental growth in its first two years and the ways they are looking to expand in the future.
Born out of a personal passion and obsession with sneakers, The Edit LDN is a platform that allows people access to new, exclusive, Pre Loved sneakers and high-end streetwear. Designed around current consumer habits, the platform facilitates a simple and fast purchasing process that then guarantees delivery within one to five working days.
The business began life mere weeks before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic when many people around the world suddenly found themselves at home with more free time and more disposable income, a unique occurrence which in part has helped the brand grow exponentially in a very short period of time.
“While we are principally an e-commerce platform, we do operate a 2,000sq ft concession space within Harrods on the men’s and women’s floor,” explains Moses Rashid, CEO of The Edit LDN. “After a successful first few months we have extended the contract with Harrods which we are delighted with.”
Speaking about the company’s future growth, Rashid explains that they are aiming for global growth through e-commerce in key territories such as mainland US in cities such as Miami, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the UAE in the countries of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and in mainland Europe in countries such as Holland and Germany.
The vision of the business is all about disrupting and refining the market and to be front and centre of the overall growth taking place in the sector. The company’s own growth stood at 545 per cent between year one and year two, and to assist this push for continual global growth the business is currently in an investment round and is looking to speak with investors.
As a platform for new brands, the key job for Moses and his team is to ensure that audiences know that The Edit LDN is the place to source the latest premium sneakers when the next round of ‘drops’ take place, whether that be the latest Jordans, the latest Yeezy’s or the latest New Balance, there is never a shortage of new brands or new products being released.
“At our core we are a platform that connects the buyer and the seller. We act as the authentication intermediary between them and for us it is about making sure that we are the first port of call for these sellers to push their product with us because they know they can sell it to a higher-end audience and of course for the buyer to get their hands on the latest products seamlessly with world-class customer service,” says Rashid.
Due to its nature as a predominantly online company, their presence on social media mediums is absolutely vital to attracting customers and clients. Instagram is their principal channel, but recently a lot of work has been put into their social media output and they are seeing a huge growth surge on other sites such as YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest and Facebook.
As part of their social media output, the company has also just filmed a Harrods content series and they are aligning themselves with influencers from the world of music and sport to raise brand awareness to represent The Edit LDN brand moving forward.
Particularly pertinent in the retail industry at the moment is the subject of sustainability and the company certainly play their part in this area. They are already paperless and all of their boxes are recycled, and they have technology built into their platform where customers can donate a pound and this goes towards planting a tree. Their Pre Loved initiative is another key sustainability element, which has been built purely to drive that circular economy and it now equates to about 10 per cent of their overall revenue.
So what does Rashid feel are the key drivers of the success they’ve enjoyed to date?
“I believe that our value proposition is very clear. We are a global online destination where customers can access the most unique, premium and limited products. Secondly, we will then deliver that product to you quicker than any of our competitors and this is underpinned with our excellent customer service and our quick query response times across all platforms,” comments Rashid.
Whilst discussing the future and the potential challenges that lie ahead, Rashid explains that because the company has been growing at such a rapid pace ever since its inception, they have to be careful not to grow too quickly and to always make sure the technology they utilise is fit for scale and that all their processes are systemised and perfect every step of the way.
“We now know that the demand for our products is there, so we want to make sure that we service that demand correctly and that’s why at the moment we are a closed marketplace, but that will change overtime as we start to approach and expand into more territories outside of the UK,” he concludes.
