Halfords today unveiled a 15.5% rise in online sales in the first quarter of its new financial year. Cycling was a star performer for the company, both online and off.
The cycling-to-car-maintenance company said half of its ecommerce revenue came from cycling, while sales of sat nav equipment had risen by 9.4% in the 13 weeks to June 28.
Total Halfords group revenues rose by 8.8% over that period, with retail revenue up by 9% and revenues from its autocentres business up by 7.8%.
Like-for-like revenues for the period, which strip out the effect of store openings and closures, rose by 7.5%, with retail up by 8.8% and autocentres down by 0.9%, thanks to what the company termed “an adverse fleet performance”.
Across retail, the fastest growth came in cycling equipment, up by 15.5%, while car maintenance product sales rose by 11.8%.
Chief executive Matt Davies said the company was in the early stages of its Getting Into Gear 2016 plan. That, he said, was “designed to significantly improve our retail customer experience through the friendly expertise of our colleagues and step changes in our store and online environment.
“Our focus is on delivering this plan over the medium term to drive sustainable and profitable revenue growth.”
Halfords claims the leading position in the UK cycling market, selling about a million bikes a year.
