Mighty Ape launches health and beauty category

New Zealand’s most popular online site for purchase, Mighty Ape, is puckering up and lashing on the mascara as it makes room in its 5,500m2 warehouse for a Health & Beauty category launching today.

The Mighty Ape beauty cabinet will boast more than 600 products and - with Kiwis spending more than $186 million on cosmetics in 2013 - will be a welcome addition to the company’s 45 per cent female customer base who relish the one-stop shopping destination.

Joining other recent female-friendly additions to the online offer such as Home & Living and Baby, Mighty Ape health & beauty gorilla Cushla Benseman explains the new category is a natural progression for the company. "Focussing initially on high-end fragrance, hair and skincare with brands like Chloe, Chanel, Gucci, Elie Saab, Redken, OPI and Clarins, we will now deliver our famed customer service and competitive pricing to a whole new segment just in time for the Christmas rush."

"We’re well aware that there are international competitors in the online beauty space. However we also know that our ability to deliver the entire range overnight, and even same day for the major centres, will strike a chord with those in dire need of a makeover who aren’t prepared to play the waiting game."

Mighty Ape chief gorilla Simon Barton is confident that the development will fuel further growth for the online success story.

"We recognise that in order to maintain our healthy 160 per cent financial growth, we need to continually push boundaries both internally and externally. Our Health & Beauty category will focus on a breadth of range and pricing that bricks and mortar cannot compete with," Simon adds.

Mighty Ape will launch the category with 600 products, with a further 150 items set to go live in the coming weeks. In time, the company aims to provide the greatest depth of health and beauty products in New Zealand.

About to mark its 16th year of trading, the company has ‘Amazonian’ plans to accelerate growth in line with this category expansion. These include developing a ‘click and collect’ service, undergoing a site reskin and developing new business models to set them, and their partners, up for long term growth.