High street giant Next has once again upped its full year profit guidance – from £995mn to £1bn – as full price sales were up nearly 8% in the third quarter to October, well ahead of previous guidance of 5%.
Total UK sales climbed 5.8% for the period, while total UK online revenues were also up almost 8%. Next credited the early arrival of colder weather for this growth.
A company profile in the RetailX UK Top500 2024, in which Next is ranked Elite, looks at how the company with roots stretching back to the 1864 founding, has reinvented itself throughout its history.
It is currently prospering as a multichannel brand, selling its own Next clothing and homewares, both online and through more than 500 stores in the UK and Ireland. It also uses its infrastructure to sell on behalf of third-party brands.
Through its Total Platform business, it now operates a UK multichannel business of brands including Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Reiss and Joules, taking a financial stake in many of them.
On its website, Next highlights its fulfilment offer, including next-day delivery to home, or free to the store. Shoppers who sign up for its Next Unlimited loyalty club for £22.50 gain 12 months of free next-day delivery. One-hour collection is free and shoppers can use a store stock checker to confirm where the item they want to buy is located.
Shoppers can easily search or browse its website. Dropdown popular search terms help to speed up searches, while inspiration hubs, product and style guides help to inform those who are not yet certain what they want to buy. Searches can be narrowed down within key departments by filtering for size, colour, brand, length and more, and ordering suggestions by factors including most relevant, most popular and price.
On the product page, shoppers can view a choice of images, read product ratings and reviews, see recommendations for other items “you may also like” or which “customers also bought”, and add favourite items to a wishlist. From the home page, they can click through to social networks – 3.3mn follow it on Facebook – X (Twitter), Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. Shoppers can also ask questions through live chat.
At the checkout shoppers must register to buy, while payment options include PayPal and Next’s own finance.
This profile is one of eight in the tenth RetailX UK Top500 report. Amazon, Ikea, Asda, Dunelm, Boden, Richer Sounds and Very are all studied.
The full report provides a strategic overview of the UK retail sector, it features an interview with Sue Harries of Elite retailer Screwfix, as well as ranking the best 500 retailers in the UK.
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