Buoyed by the success of its international retail sales and its
UK direct division, Watford, Hertfordshire-based nursery
cataloguer/retailer Mothercare will be trialling international
websites early next year. It hasn’t stated which countries it
will launch localised sites for, but it has 671 Mothercare and
Early Learning Centre stores in 50 countries outside the UK, most
of them franchises.
In a release, Mothercare said it was enjoying “strong
growth in Eastern European countries with higher birth rates such
as Poland, Russia, and Ukraine”, while “Asia is the
region with the largest growth potential”. It also has
stores throughout the Middle East and Western Europe. It does not
have a presence in North America other than the US version of its
Gurgle.com social-networking site. Mothercare also has Gurgle
sites for the UK and India.
Direct sales at Mothercare and its Early Learning Centre toys
division were £58.0 million for the half-year to 10th
October, up 15 percent from the same period of last year.
Catalogue and web sales accounted for nearly 20 percent of the
company’s £296.3 million in half-year UK turnover. Total
sales for the half-year were £387.3 million, up 7.9 percent
from last year, with international sales up nearly 30
percent.
Share