Department store David Jones has revealed a lift in sales for the first quarter of the 2013 financial year, following the launch of its new e-commerce platforms.
The retailer, which launched a new webstore and mobile transaction site on November 6, reported total sales revenue of $415.6 million for the period from July 29 2012 to October 27 2012.
The figures represent a total sales growth of 0.3 per cent, compared to the same period last year, with sales revenue also up 0.3 per cent on a like-for-like (LFL) basis.
On a state-by-state basis, Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria delivered the most positive sales growth, with the company’s performance in Queensland adversely impacted in the quarter by the Toowong Village store refurbishment.
David Jones completed the Toowong Village refurbishment in late September 2012 and the Elizabeth and Market Street (NSW) store refurbishments in late October 2012. All three refurbished stores are now trading uninterrupted and performing well.
Commenting on the results, David Jones CEO Paul Zahra said it was pleasing to see the company return to positive sales growth overall, following seven quarters of declining sales.
He also said the company's focus, for the moment, will be on improving the profitability of sales through the continued reduction in depth and breadth of discounting promotional events.
“We have seen a continued improvement in sales tracking quarter on quarter since the first quarter of 2012. Particularly pleasing is the fact that our high margin categories (womenswear, menswear, beauty, accessories and shoes) all delivered positive sales growth in the quarter. Our home and electricals categories on the other hand continued to be challenging,” Zahra said.
“In line with our decision to reduce the duration of our half yearly clearance in June we also decreased the duration of our October event by two weeks.
“This is consistent with our strategy to improve the profitability of sales generated by the business by reducing the length of our discount events and focusing on full margin, new season stock, as well as phasing out low productivity categories and expanding high margin categories.”
In addition, Zahra revealed that the company successfully piloted its new point-of-sale (POS) system in its Birkenhead Point (NSW), Hornsby (NSW) and Bondi Junction (NSW) stores.
He said a further POS rollout will occur post the December/January clearance period and is on track to being completed by the end of July 2013.
“Trading in the first couple of weeks of the second quarter is tracking broadly in line with the first quarter of 2013. I have just completed a nationwide store review and am pleased to report that we are well prepared across our stores and our online and mobile business channels, for the all important Christmas and subsequent clearance periods,” Zahra said.