Australian fashion retailers have released their financial results for the first half of the year.
ragtrader.com.au reports on five ways they are boosting their bottom line.
1. Backing their winners
Have you got a brand or range that keeps your tills trilling? Then back it.
Premier Investments singled out Peter Alexander as one of its strongest brands, significantly outperforming the broader retail market with 23.3 per cent total sales growth.
During the first half of the year, five new stores were opened across Australia and New Zealand, with another four stores planned for the second half.
It has expanded the childrenswear range, generating sales growth of 86 per cent in the category. In addition, the Peter Alexander concession and wholesale business was launched in February in partnership with department store Myer.
2. Getting mobile
All Premier Investments retail brands are now fully mobile, helping the retail powerhouse to drive internet sales growth of 24 per cent for the first half of the year.
Mobile has been a particularly strong channel for department store Myer, with online sales from tablets and phones up more than 140 per cent for the half and by almost 390 per cent in January compared with the previous year.
To deal with growing sales demand online, a dedicated fulfilment centre for online orders was established in October 2013. Myer's top 13,000 SKUs are dispatched from the centre and an additional 20 of its stores have added a 'Click and Collect' service.
Over 18.5 million visits were recorded to Myer's online platform in the first half of the year.
3. Cutting the fat
Department store David Jones decreased its cost-of-doing-business percentage to sales by 30 basis points this half of the financial year.
One of the key initiatives to sustain these savings will be exiting low productivity stores as leases expire. Six leases in "less robust" demographies are set to expire in the next five years, with warehouse stores in Birkenhead Point (NSW) and Harbour Town (QLD) among those singled out to get the cut.
Other key cost-saving initiatives included the rollout of a new Workforce Management System and the elimination of consumables, energy and service efficiencies delivered by a new point of sales system.
You don't have to think big either. David Jones revealed costs were also saved through the use of energy efficient lighting and the upgrade of airconditioning and refrigeration.
4. Spotting the hot
Is there a hot selling season or customer that brings in the dollars?
The Athlete's Foot Australian stores recorded like-for-like sales growth of 2.1 per cent for the half year. Total group sales increased 2 per cent to $94.3 million and net earnings grew by 2.3 per cent.
Key to this growth was what the company calls "the all-important" back to school month of January. Here, like-for-like sales rose 8.1 per cent, with the company confirming strategies around this period will see it continue to win greater marketing share.
For David Jones, it is about recognising new customers such as the inbound Asian tourist market. The deparment store has targeted this through the acceptance of UnionPay, employing 140 front line staff fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin and the introduction of new promotional events such as Chinese New Year.
5. Dominating with data
Don't leave your data rotting in the vegetable draw - mine it.
Specialty Fashion Group has continued to drive customer engagement through investment in a dedicated customer insights team and CRM platform.
Email-valid customer members grew to 3.1 million during the first half of the year. The Group's total customer membership data base comprises more than 7 million members.
Department store David Jones is preparing to maximise on 220 per cent growth in online sales for the first half of the year through a similar concept.
A key component of its omnichannel retail strategy will be increasing its digital contacts and the roll out of its Customer Data Analytics program.
The program will analyse how customers shop and interact with David Jones across all channels, enabling it to deliver personalised offers as they transact either in-store or online.
It will also allow personalised offers to customers post-purchase and suggestions linked to spend history.
Specialty Fashion Group recently detailed its internal data mining department in Ragtrader magazine. Don't forget to subscribe here to get all the news in-depth.