23 Costumes.com.au

The motto of Costumes.com.au is to “deliver fun” and as one of Australia’s leading costume retailers, that’s exactly what it is doing.

The pure-play online retailer was founded in 2010 by Nathan Huppatz, Brendan Taylor and Ian Slinger, who, as the former operators of an online fishing business, were looking for other opportunities in the e-commerce space.

“We were looking for a niche,” Huppatz told SmartCompany. “We had been doing some consulting so we were looking to get back into e-commerce.”

Costumes.com.au now offers more than 8000 costumes, as well as accessories and party supplies to shoppers in Australia and New Zealand. The business has grown by 98.46% in four years.

And while other retailers may be feeling the pinch, Huppatz says Costumes.com.au is having one of its strongest years, with August sales up by 300% compared to 2013.

“The costume market is a market that is growing in Australia, as is Halloween and the like, [and] I think we would be growing the fastest” says Huppatz.

“There will always be a hire market, but as more and more consumers discover they can buy a brand new costume for a similar price, I think it will open up doors for more expansion in our category.”

Costumes.com.au has clearly been getting busier, but Huppatz says the team’s focus on efficiency has meant the business has been able to keep its head count low.

“Our strength and expertise is in automating and creating efficient systems,” he says. “We’ve made real progress in the past six months.”

Huppatz says the next 12 months will be about expanding the range of products offered on Costumes.com.au, as well as educating consumers.

“We’ll be consolidating our position in the online costume market [and] building awareness among consumers to buy costumes and not hire them,” he says.