Superdry reports fast sales growth as its global digital strategy pays off
Superdry said it had strengthened its position as a global digital brand in the first half of its financial year.
The fashion business, a Top100 retailer in IRUK Top500 research, reported group revenue of £402m in the six months to October 28 2017, up by 20.4% on the same period in the previous year, with retail revenue 12.8% ahead at £242.7m. Ecommerce sales grew by 31.6% to account for 25.2% of sales, while store revenue of £181.5m was up by 76% on last time. Pre-tax profits of £9.1m was down from £12.7m last time, related to currency hedging.
Superdry has further strengthened its position as a global digital brand obsessed with quality and design. They have delivered another strong performance demonstrating the unique advantages and attractiveness of Superdry and its relevance to customers around the globe. Their growth through their eight channels to market has further diversified the brand, both geographically and across channels, while continued innovation has further widened our product offer.
Their focus is on executing against the growth opportunities they have identified. They have a clear brand positioning, an innovative approach to digital marketing, a disruptive multi-channel approach and a growing culture of operational excellence. Having traded through their peak trading period, the board remains confident in delivering full year underlying profit before income tax in line with the range of analyst expectations and in the quality of the sustainable financial performance they can deliver.
This is what it said about its multichannel strategy.
Operations & logistics
Superdry said introducing multichannel capabilities to its European distribution centre had enabled a market-leading delivery offer for European Union customers. It has implemented a new order management system for ecommerce that enables customers to receive deliveries from more than one distribution centre where their order cannot be fulfilled from the closest one.
Multichannel
Superdry said online represents a significant ongoing growth opportunity with 20% of apparel sales forecast to take place over the internet in the next four years, up from 15%. It said that over the last year it has made more than 700 improvements to the customer experience, with more investment planned.
Some 50 new Superdry branded stores opened during the half-year, taking it to more than 600 in total. Of the new openings, 13 were directly owned.
Superdry boasts an eight channel selling strategy. Those channels are:
- owned stores in primary areas;
- franchise stores in secondary and developing areas;
- Superdry websites;
- partner websites;
- department stores;
- multi-brand independent stores;
- outlet stores and off-price ecommerce.
Brand engagement
Integrated digital and social marketing campaigns are designed to strengthen relationships with existing customers and to boost its links to the influencer community with potential for new customers. It has seen more than 500m social media impressions and 20m videos from campaigns to date.
International
The retailer is currently rolling out its multichannel strategy in its development markets of North America and China. In North America it currently sells through ecommerce, wholesale and retail, while in China it is now adding franchise stores and online, via a Small site, to 14 owned stores to extend its brand reach. It currently has a presence in 55 markets, and ran its first multimedia campaign in Germany during the six months, while its products are sold in 148 markets.