While it has more than 1000 stores in its portfolio, it's the digital side of the business that is driving significant growth for Mosaic Brands, the retailer has revealed in its first half results.
In the first half, the retailer recorded a 21% lift in online sales to $122 million, which accounted for 41% of the Group's $298 million revenue.
It also achieved a record Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, with third-party online sales clocking $15.6 million - up 75% on the prior corresponding period (pcp).
The business also grew its online SKUs from 150,000 to over 3.5 million covering 30 categories - on track to reach its goal of 8 million online SKUs by 2025 which will deliver $500 million in online revenue.
Mosaic Brands CEO Scott Evans said that online sales over the past two years have remained consistently strong, while stores have suffered under lockdowns.
"What we’ve been managing in the last two years are two-speed trading conditions with online frankly booming but stores being at the mercy of lockdowns and customers’ COVID concerns.
"What we’ve also seen in that time is three separate and brief trading windows with both online and stores operating unimpeded, resulting in growth and profitability surging each time," he said.
In the bricks-and-mortar department, Mosaic Brands reported its second consecutive half of comparable store growth, recording a 1% lift on the pcp.
"Despite a significant sales hit from the loss of nearly 50,000 trading days, combined with no benefit from JobKeeper in the period, the Group ended the half up on the previous period delivering an $8 million EBITDA compared to –$1 million last year (excluding JobKeeper benefit) with EziBuy contributing $3 million," Evans added.
"The result included the second successive half of comparable store growth in some of the most challenging conditions and closures we’ve seen in the pandemic to date, including the emergence of the Omicron variant impacting customer confidence late in the half," he said.
Other key highlights in the Group's results include a $47 million reduction in cost of doing business, which offset JobKeeper benefits received in the pcp.
The business also finalised a new $59 million credit facility with Commonwealth Bank in the half.
Looking ahead, Evans said the business is ready to capitalise on the underserved over 50s markets locally and internationally.
"In the US, $1 out of every $5 spent on apparel online is now coming from the wallet of baby boomers and that figure is growing.
"Among our over 50s customer set we’re seeing a similar pattern with record Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
"Given this demand our natural next step is to expand to the United States, United Kingdom and several other international markets.
"Those countries are ideally placed to offer our brands to customers shifting online but often underserviced in their markets because of outdated perceptions about how and where they shop.
"This is a very exciting new chapter for Mosaic and we’ve already begun rolling out our sites in a staggered manner," he said.