Answear.com accelerates sales growth, improves profitability and optimises operations in Q2 2026

Answear.com, one of the leaders in premium & high-end fashion in Central Europe, has reported its results for Q2 and H1 2026. Revenue rose by 9.3% y/y in the past quarter, to PLN 436.3m, and gross margin improved by 1.3 pp, to 44.9%. Net profit came in at PLN 8.3m, against PLN 2.8m a year earlier. EBITDA reached PLN 22.1m, versus PLN 20.3m. The improvement was driven by a refined offering and optimised inventory, while marketing and logistics spending grew more slowly than sales.

Online sales amounted to PLN 438m in the second quarter, 11.5% more than a year earlier. This is the second consecutive quarter of acceleration. Gross profit grew even faster, by 12.5%, to PLN 195.8m. Cost discipline helped. Marketing costs as a share of online sales fell to 19.6% from 20.7%, and logistics costs to 11.9% from 12.2%.

- EBITDA rose by 8.9% y/y in the second quarter. It was supported by lower cost ratios in marketing and logistics. It was held back, however, by three items that were absent a year earlier: a PLN 1.8m write-down on older PRM inventory, a provision for bonuses linked to the margin target, and development costs in the key areas of technology, artificial intelligence and customer loyalty. We will only see the full effect of the marketing spend optimisation in the second half of the year, primarily in the fourth quarter. The improvement is also evident in the balance sheet. The cash conversion cycle shortened by 33 days, to 121 days, and net debt fell by 28.7% y/y, to PLN 136.1m. This gives us a strong financial position and room for further growth – says Jacek Dziaduś, CFO of Answear.com.

Poland remains the growth engine. Domestic sales increased by 22.1% y/y, and Poland's share of group revenue reached 31.0%, 3.5 pp more than a year earlier. Three factors were behind this. The first is successful broad-reach campaigns, which lifted brand awareness. The second is closer contact with the customer offline: Answear Concept Store operates as a space for experiences and encounters with brands, complements the online channel and helps build the customer relationship. The third is the solid condition of the Polish consumer, which supports purchases in the premium segment.

- The second quarter confirmed the direction we are consistently pursuing. Our margin is growing faster than sales, because we are refining the way we build the offering. We focus on well-chosen, continuously curated brands and on deeper orders where we see the best sell-through. Our role is changing in the process. We are evolving from a retailer into a partner for brands looking for high-quality access to the premium customer. Partners appreciate this and offer us better financial terms and broader access to their collections. Yet this is about more than assortment. Premium does not begin and end with the product. It is also the way the customer discovers the brand, makes a choice and uses our services – comments Krzysztof Bajołek, CEO of Answear.com.

The change in the way goods are ordered is now the main margin lever. Answear.com is not expanding its assortment but replacing it. The number of model-colours fell by 9.6% y/y, while the number of brands rose to 1,080, 25 more than a year earlier. Orders with proven brands, by contrast, are deeper, which lowers the unit cost of content publication and improves the efficiency of the marketing budget. The effect is visible in the figures: sales per model-colour rose by 23% y/y. The process has advanced furthest in the private label, whose turnover increased by 23.1%, to PLN 20.6m, with the number of model-colours lower by 44%.

This approach to buying is data-driven. The company analyses a growing pool of sell-through data in the premium segment, drawn from its own scale of operations. Answear.com serves 2.7 million active customers across 12 markets, 4.1% more than a year earlier. In the second quarter alone it fulfilled 1.68 million orders, 10.5% more y/y.

The same knowledge drives the premiumisation of both brands. At Answear.com it means gradually shifting the offering towards the premium segment. At PRM the change runs deeper: a rebuild from a sneaker-based store towards high-end luxury. Footwear's share of segment sales fell to 52% from 84% in H1 2024, while apparel's share rose to 34% from 12%. Replacing a large part of the assortment did not weigh on sales, which amounted to PLN 89.0m, against PLN 87.8m a year earlier.

In marketing, the quarter brought a change of format. The broad-reach campaign in May and June was delivered entirely in online channels, without television. It ran longer than a year earlier, and the campaign budget did not increase. The effect is visible in traffic: the number of sessions increased by 13.8% versus the period immediately preceding the campaign, which translated into 7.4 million additional sessions. Brand queries in search engines and brand awareness also rose. Digital additionally offers flexibility and full measurement of results. The company sees in real time how the campaign is working and can shift budget between markets while it is still running.

- We are delivering the plan we presented in May. At that time we announced higher sales growth, a higher gross margin, a lower share of marketing costs, as well as the optimisation of inventory and the acquisition of new premium brands. The second-quarter results confirm each of these points, and the improvement in the EBITDA margin is under way. We are entering the second half of the year better prepared. The brands we have acquired are beginning a full season, and we built the buying budgets according to an improved methodology, based on the analysis of sell-through data. In parallel, we are strengthening our teams in data, digital marketing, customer loyalty and artificial intelligence. We turn to AI where we see a return on investment and where it does not come at the expense of the quality of our message. An organisation prepared in this way should continue to scale the business and improve its results – concludes Krzysztof Bajołek.