Shoe Zone has seen a strong rise in revenues as shoppers returned in store in its latest full-year, but spent less online.
The value footwear retailer was able to open its shops every week of its latest financial year for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Income from online sales reduced, but multichannel returns helped to bring digital shoppers into store.
It today reports revenues of £156.2m in the year to October 1 2022. That’s 31% up from £119.1m in the previous year. Store sales grew by 46.5% to £129.8m from £88.6m a year earlier, following a full year in which its stores were open for 52 weeks of the year – up from 36 weeks a year earlier. Digital revenue of £26.4m was 13.5% down on last time. That, says Shoe Zone, is still significantly ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
Pre-tax profits of £13.6m were up by 43.2% from £9.5m a year earlier.
Shoe Zone chief executive Anthony Smith says: “Shoe Zone had a very positive year due to trading for the full 52 weeks, strong trading over our key back to school period and due to the incredible hard work from our teams. These increases are primarily due to the increased revenue and resultant gross profit generated in a normalised trading period post pandemic.”
Multichannel strategy
During the year Shoe Zone invested in digital through introducing automated bagging machines, redesigning its checkout page and introducing new buy now pay later providers.
It now continues to invest in its platform and plans to introduce a new returns portal as well as adding new payment methods. Returns, says Shoe Zone, is key to its digital business since most of the 11% of online orders that are returned are taken to stores.
By the end of the year, Shoe Zone traded from 360 shops, following a net 50 store closures, of which 45 were big box stores, 44 hybrid and 271 original format stores. In the future it plans to double its big box store numbers to about 100, increase hybrid stores to about 150, while moving out of unprofitable locations.
Shoe Zone is ranked Leading in RXUK Top500 research
