Like any major disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has created winners and losers, and e-commerce platform Redbubble (ASX:RBL) looks to be in the former category.

The company provided a trading update this morning, where it confirmed a big June quarter with (unaudited) revenue of $122m — a gain of 97 per cent on a constant currency basis.

Shares in RBL climbed by another 13 per cent at the opening bell, continuing a torrid rally to almost $3.50 from April lows of less than 50c.

 

Online surge

Like other e-commerce players, RedBubble has been lifted in the rising tide of online sales.

Analysis of the sector indicates the pandemic has accelerated the shift to online from around five years to as much as 10 years.

In its trading update this morning, RedBubble said the “increasing shift to online shopping resulted in annual growth across all core geographies and product categories”.

The company initially flagged strong Q4 revenue numbers in late-June, while also announcing cost-cutting measures including a reduction in staff head count.

RedBubble’s platform provides two online marketplaces — RedBubble and TeePublic — to facilitate sales for independent artists. Product categories include TV prints, posters and smartphone cases with unique designs.

In addition, “face masks have contributed $26m of marketplace revenue from launch at the end of April until 31 July”, the company said.

After booking around $40m per month of revenue in the June quarter, RedBubble said unaudited July revenues came in at $49m, as “topline trends seen in Q4 continued into FY2021”.

Annual marketplace revenue came in at $368m, up 36 per cent on a constant currency basis. With ASX reporting season underway, RedBubble will present its full-year audited accounts on August 21.