Dr Martens direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales grew by a third in the run-up to Christmas. The brand’s direct sales made up almost two-thirds of its revenue in the three months to December 31, compared to the same time last year, as wholesale fell 14%. The brand says that the Christmas period is typically a strong one for its direct sales, compared to wholesale.
Group sales across all channels reached £307m in the the third quarter of its financial year, 11% up on the same time last year, and 21% up on the previous year, while direct to consumer sales – across all channels – grew by 33% to account for 64% of sales, and were 50% up on the previous year. Ecommerce sales grew by 16% on last year – and by 85% on the previous year, while in-store retail sales were 72% ahead of last year, and 16% up on the previous year. But wholesale was 14% down on last year and 10% behind the previous year.
In first nine months of the year, group sales came to £676.9m, 14% up on last year, and 30% up on the previous year. Ecommerce sales were 13% up on last year and 97% up on the previous year, while sales through its own retail stores were 81% up on last year and 9% up on the year before that. Wholesale was 1% down on last year, but 15% up on the year before.
Kenny Wilson, chief executive of Dr Martens, says: “We delivered a good performance during our largest quarter, with direct to consumer (DTC) revenues growing 33% versus Q3 last year to 64% revenue mix. We continued to put our long-term custodian approach at the heart of decision making and proactively managed the business against a changing Covid backdrop, prioritising the higher margin DTC channels in line with our strategy. We remain confident in achieving market expectations for the full year and I would like to thank everyone at Dr Martens for their exceptional hard work and dedication.”
The brand said its wholesale business had been affected by global shipping delays, while the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant hit footfall in December. During the period it opened 11 new own stores, taking it to a total of 158, including 24 opened during the current financial year. It says most of its Q4 footwear is already in transit by sea to its distribution centres.
Dr Martens is a Top350 retailer in RXUK Top500 research.
