Independent fashion retailers have expressed concern over an email received last week from online boutique marketplace Trouva.
Entitled “Late Payments Status,” the message informs businesses that there will be “a delay in August payment” due to an “integration project taking longer than anticipated.”
In a statement obtained by Boutique magazine, Trouva said it “sincerely apologised for the recent delays in payments to some of our valued boutique partners.”
It continued: “We understand the difficulties this may have caused and deeply regret any inconvenience. The delays are due to an unforeseen issue while we wait for the completion of an imminent new funding round. This temporary situation has unfortunately affected our ability to maintain our usual payment schedule.
“We are working tirelessly to resolve this issue and resume our normal payment operations as swiftly as possible. We are in continuous communication with the affected boutiques, providing regular updates and offering all possible support during this period.”
Hundreds of independent fashion retailers from around the UK, Europe and US sell via Trouva. The London-based online marketplace, which was acquired in April 2024 by home and living site Fy!, doesn’t hold stock. Instead it receives orders and takes payment directly from shoppers before notifying boutiques to ship products. Retailers are then usually paid for the order – minus its commission fee – within a specified number of days following the transaction.
If you are a Trouva customer concerned about late payments, contact Boutique magazine via E: gemma@bpmedialtd.co.uk
Trouva’s email to boutiques in full
Good afternoon,
As you know, we’ve been very busy over the last few months rebuilding the Trouva website on the Fy infrastructure to provide a much better experience and enable us to grow your Trouva revenue. This integration project has taken longer than anticipated, and as a result, we are closing additional financing to give us time to get this right. The good news is we are expecting to close a multi-million pound round in the next few weeks to support making Trouva better for everyone.
However, we are extremely sorry to inform you that as a result there will be a delay in the processing of your August payment. We are working through the payment backlog on a daily basis. We understand this is extremely frustrating for you and we will do everything we can to support you and keep you updated.
Our Retail Operations team is here to help and should you have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best regards,
Trouva Team