Internet detectives managed to ‘hack’ Meghan Markle’s As Ever website to reveal her humongous number of items still in stock – but it is a sign of success or failure and what is the story behind it?
Internet sleuths claim to have ‘hacked’ Meghan’s As Ever website to find out how much stock it holds – with surprising results.
Amateur detectives say they exploited a bug on her As Ever page to reveal the precise number of jams, peppermint teas and other jars, candles and bottles that she has stashed in her warehouse.
The Duchess’ business prides itself on selling ‘small-batch spreads, honeys and pantry favourites for everyday moments worth savouring’ – but, if the numbers are correct, there are actually hundreds of thousands in stock. But what is the story behind the numbers and what does it actually say about the state of Meghan’s business?
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Sleuths say they were able to access the stock figures after attempting to add an abnormally large number of items to their online shopping basket, which prompted the website to reveal the maximum stock it had available.
The stock, seen in alleged screenshots of the website which were then posted to Reddit, include more than 220,000 jars of spread, 30,000 jars of honey, 30,000 mulling kits, almost 90,000 candles, over 110,000 jars of tea, and 80,000 jars of edible flower sprinkles.
For the wine, they seemingly found there were more than 70,000 bottles unsold, including almost 7,000 Bruts, 46,000 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and nearly 24,000 bottles of rose.
However, brand and culture expert Nick Ede explains that the huge stock numbers don’t necessarily indicate that the brand is failing, but rather may signal ambition. So for a consumer product like jam, holding significant inventory can be a strategic move to avoid sell-outs, support wholesale deals, or preparing for spikes in demand.
He told The Mirror: “What looks like ‘huge stock’ to the public can actually be perfectly normal behind the scenes, particularly if a brand is positioning itself for growth rather than staying niche. If claims of selling one million jars are accurate, that would suggest genuine consumer demand but until figures are officially confirmed, they sit more in the realm of buzz than proof.
“It does feel like a very large number but As Ever does have a large following as does Meghan so it may be that her loyal fans are repeat buying the product too.”
Not long after the Reddit post, the As Ever website put purchase limits in place for goods to avoid hackers finding out the true stock levels again. Users can now only buy up to 50 spread gift boxes, or 20 bottles of wine. As Ever has not commented on the bug.
After the hack, it was claimed that the Signature Fruit Spread Box had 137,465 units available. But a source told The Sun that it was was the amount left over from an initial order of one million jars. If true, it means that the single product alone would have generated the duchess £26.7million in sales as the spread box sells for £31 ($42) each.
Defending the duchess, the source argued: “I think it’s fair to say business isn’t just successful, it’s flying off the shelf, Meghan inadvertently revealed that one million jars were ordered for that one product, and has only 130,000 left.”
Nick highlighted that an inventory alone never tells the full story and further noted: “The real measure of success is sales velocity how quickly product is moving not how much is sitting in a warehouse. There were a lot of teething problems at the start of the brand when the items were selling our immediately and orders were not being fulfilled so it could be that the decision was made to avoid this and produce enough product to match demand.”
This thought is echoed by Paul Gillooly, a Financial Specialist and the Director of Dot Dot Loans – who claimed this much stock is normal for a celebrity brand. He noted: “Provided she is actually selling a million jars, then big inventory is an indication of good forecasting. However, when the sales are inflated then carrying such inventory may reflect some overconfidence or false interpretation of the market demand that may be risky in cash flow particularly in high-end product areas.
“On the one hand, it is not a rare phenomenon when a newly emerged celebrity brand front-loads production to make a splash in PR and satisfy the demand over a short period of time, on the other hand, it is not a smaller-scale behaviour, either. The actual issue is the rate at which that inventory is moving.”
Paul explained that having a big stock is not a “win or lose” but it’s a bet, and with business, “it comes down to the magnitude of your inventory that is how large you are prepared to be betting on yourself.”
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Source: Mirror
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