Levi Strauss this week reports fast growing direct-to-consumer sales as more people shop in its stores – and from its e-commerce websites – as retail starts to reopen from pandemic lockdowns.
The jeans brand, ranked Top350 in RXUK Top500 research, this week reported first half net revenues of $2.6bn (£1.9bn) in the six months to May 30, up by 29% from $2bn (£1.4bn) a year earlier. Sales in the second quarter came in at $1.3bn (£0.9bn), 156% up on last time. Net income stood at $207m (£149.5m, +198%) in the first half, and $65m (£46.9, +118%) in the second quarter alone.
Levi’s says the fast growth in revenues came in the second quarter as sales from its directly operated shops grew by 141%, with ecommerce sales rising by 42%. Sales from owned stores accounted for 29% of second quarter sales, and those from ecommerce of 8%. This, it says, reflect “the benefit of accelerating omnichannel initiatives”. The company’s global digital net revenues, including net revenues from the company’s ecommerce sites and from the online activities of its pureplay and multichannel wholesale customers, grew by about 75% to account for 23% of second quarter revenues.
Overall, second-quarter sales were only 3% behind those the brand made in the second quarter of 2019, despite store closures during lockdowns in many markets including the UK.
Levi’s European business saw the fastest growth of the quarter, with sales growing by 183% on last time to $365m (£263.6m). Sales also grew quickly in the Americas (+153% to $715m – £516.4m) and Asia (+128% to $196m, £141.6m). In Europe and Asia, ecommerce net revenues grew by 75% on the previous year, while they grew by 18% in its US home market.
Levi Strauss has been in business since 1853 – when its Bavarian-born founder of the same name opened a shop in San Francisco to sell workwear – including its now trademark jeans. Today it sells online, through around 500 directly operated shops and thousands of retail partners in 110 markets around the world.
