Kogan.com says its successful move into the cut-throat mobile phone market has emboldened it to look for other industries and services it can sell to its swelling subscriber base.
The online retailer was one of the best performers on the ASX on Friday after it revealed stronger than forecast earnings for its first full year as a listed company.
The Kogan Mobile partnership with Vodafone was a major earnings driver, with revenue hitting $3.6 million, about 140 per cent more than forecast in its prospectus.
"We've proven with Kogan Mobile that we can launch into a new vertical and make it instantly profitable by leveraging our brand, leveraging the Kogan community and being able to use that in negotiations with partners," founder and chief executive Ruslan Kogan said.
Kogan.com has also branched into travel, released a range of insurance products this month in partnership with global underwriting giant Hollard, and next year will launch a fixed-line NBN internet product with Vodafone.
In each instance, the partner provides the product and Kogan provides branding, marketing and access to its database of subscribers, which grew to more than 6 million people in the 12 months to June 30, with 950,000 active customers - up 36 per cent on the prior year.
The company was tight lipped about the industries it would look at entering next, but said it was interested in opportunities for more verticals.
"It works well where a potential partner has had a huge capital expenditure in building out a product or service and they need customer acquisition," Mr Kogan said. "We're able to provide that."
Private-label products across consumer electronics, homewares, sports goods and other categories still accounted for the bulk of its earnings, contributing 52 per cent of gross profits.
Mr Kogan said he was excited about the impending arrival of Amazon in Australia as it would serve as another channel to sell his private-label products while pushing more Australians to online shopping.
"Any retailer that has a unique and compelling proposition to the customer should be seeing Amazon as an opportunity," he said.
Kogan.com's business and brand was based on being the cheapest and its supply chain and digital efficiency would see it retain price leadership even when Amazon started trading, Mr Kogan said.
Kogan.com reported pro forma net profit after tax of $7.2 million, up 188 per cent on its prospectus forecast. Bottom-line profit, including the $3 million cost of listing on the ASX in July 2016, was $3.7 million.
Kogan.com's shares listed in August 2016 at $1.80 and quickly lost much of their value, returning to that price for the first time early last month. The stock has been on the rise since then and on Friday jumped 8.75 per cent to $2.61.
