We look at how some of the biggest retailers in the IREU Top500 index have fared over the Christmas period.
Ahold Delhaize
Ahold Delhaize saw its Q4 net sales up 3% to €16.5 billion year-on-year.
Online was the star performer for the Dutch retailer in terms of growth, with sales rising 27.3% year-on-year in the quarter to €1.1 billion. Growth was particularly strong with Bol.com, which saw 32.3% growth to €2.1 billion.
This bodes well for a company that is making no secret of its online ambitions; it hopes to double its global online sales to €7 billion by 2021 through investment in new IT infrastructure and fulfilment capabilities.
However, the company is still expanding its store portfolio, with a net 132 stores opened in the year.
Hugo Boss
German brand Hugo Boss saw group sales grow 7% to €783 million in Q4. While Hugo Boss said both its direct and wholesale channels had seen growth, the story to watch is the company’s online business, which grew by 37% in constant currency and broke €100 million, although the exact figure was not shared.
Boss aims to quadruple sales in its own online business from 2018 to 2022. This will involve both the use of the company’s own online store and use of a concession model.
Carrefour
French supermarket giant Carrefour’s group sales rose 1.9% year-on-year. Again, the highest growth was seen in ecommerce, where online food sales grew over 30%.
The quarter saw the finalisation of its single websites across its countries and the development of digital order preparation tools to improve service rate, speed and cost of picking.
For more retail results from Bonmarché, WH Smith, Hotel Chocolat and Studio, read today’s week in peak update.
