boohoo.com has unveiled a 27% rise in sales, and said a third of its sales were now made abroad.
The fast fashion pure play this week reported revenue of £139.8m in the year to February 28, 27% ahead of the same time last year, while pre-tax profits of £11.1m were 3% ahead.
The company said that growth had been fastest in Europe, thanks to a focus on key markets, and where sales rose by 39%, or 47% once currency fluctuations are discounted. Sales in its main UK market rose by 33%, while the company saw a 7% boost to its rest-of-the-world business. In the UK, sales grew by 47% in the first half of the year but fell back to 22% growth
“We continue to invest in the brand as we develop in key markets (UK, Australia, USA, Ireland and France) where we see the greatest long term growth potential,” said joint chief executives Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane. “All the while we are constantly improving the customer experience and our country specific pricing remains agile to ensure we stay on top of our game.”
During the year the company launched Spanish, German and Italian language websites. Boohoo also singled out the success of its new responsive website, and said 64% of online traffic now came via mobile devices. That’s up from 47% a year before. Conversion rates for smartphone users improved by 40% following the upgrade while conversion rates improved by 9% to 3.6%.
Kamani and Kane said the company had “taken major steps operationally to ensure boohoo is prepared for the anticipated growth ahead.” A new warehouse management system has been implemented and now the retailer’s investing in extending its warehouse, with an extension that will increase capacity by a third set to be completed by mid-2015.
They concluded: “We remain confident in our proven business model and in the continued development of the online fashion market globally in which we are steadily increasing our market share.
“Having increased marketing spend towards levels seen in the first quarter last year (as a percentage of sales) we have seen a good start to the new financial year with improved momentum in the UK. Our international momentum has continued, reflecting greater focus on our key markets. Overall, the business continues to trade in line with management’s expectations.”
