Independent retail owners say Trouva still owes them funds for outstanding invoices dating back to July. The boutique marketplace, which launched in 2015, initially sent a ‘late payment status’ alert by email last month informing retailers there would be “a delay in August payment” due to an “integration project taking longer than anticipated.”
More recently, Trouva CEO Tom Beverley apologised to retailers for the continued delay. In an email sent last week he said the team is “working tirelessly” on the issue and that he expects “the normal payment schedule to resume at the end of September.”
Numerous indie retail owners have come forward to tell Boutique magazine they haven’t received a payment from Trouva – which ordinarily arrive twice a month – since July. Some say they have suspended all sales on the site and do not plan to start taking orders again until they receive outstanding funds.
According to Trouva, it has around 700 independent fashion retailers from around the UK, Europe and US selling on its site. The London-based online marketplace, which was acquired in April 2024 by Fy!, doesn’t hold stock. Instead, it receives orders and takes payment directly from shoppers before notifying boutiques to ship out products. Retailers are then usually paid for the order – minus its commission fee – within a specified number of days after the transaction.
Trouva was originally created nine years ago by Alex Loizou, Mandeep Singh and Glen Walker. Before Fy! took over its ownership it had also changed hands twice in two years, having been owned by made.com and then acquired by Re:Store in 2023.