Debenhams delivered better-than-expected profits
in the first half of the year against the backdrop of a difficult
market. Pretax profit edged up 1.4 per cent to £127.1
million, while gross transaction value grew 1.4 per cent to
£1.48 billion. Online sales continued to grow strongly,
increasing by 34.7 per cent to £124.3 million for the first
half (excluding Debenhams’ Nordic business Magasin).
EBITDA in the multichannel arm increased by 36.4 per cent as
initiatives to cut fulfilment costs started to take effect;
Debenhams is now using an “endless aisle” model that
use stock from the store base as well as fulfilment centres to
meet customer demand. The company estimates that some £10
million of potentially lost sales were captured during the
period. Mobile is Debenhams’ fastest-growing channel and 20
per cent of online traffic is now generated by mobile
devices.
The company has set its sights on achieving online sales of
£500 million in the “medium term” and expects
£100 million to be generated by international sales. During
the first half of the year, the number of countries Debenhams
delivers to has increased from seven to 40. This will increase
again to 67 by the end of the summer, it says. The first local
language, local currency website will be officially launched in
Germany in May 2012 to be followed by a number of other sites
over the coming months, facilitated by Debenhams’ investment in
the latest IBM Websphere 7 platform.
With sales from the US market now representing 10 per cent of
total turnover, London-based jeweller Astley
Clarke has launched a website specifically for US and
Canadian customers. Customers can now shop in dollars; and enjoy
no VAT, tax, or duty charges. Shipping is free on all orders of
$250 or, guaranteed within four days.
Online marketplace, eCommerce services provider and payments
specialist eBay reported a strong first quarter,
with sales up 29 per cent to $3.3 billion in the period ended 31st
March.
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