Quiz sales started to recover both online and offline during the spring and early summer, as shops reopened and hospitality venues started to trade once more.
As a retailer selling dressy casual clothing and occasion wear, Quiz has been hard-hit during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns of the last year. The retailer now sells through fewer stores and concessions than it did before the pandemic, and it no longer sells through Debenhams, a key partner before the department store went into administration. The Debenhams brand now trades online-only following its acquisition by the Boohoo Group.
Now Quiz is working to grow sales through its own website and stores, though it will work with new partners where appropriate. It expects to see demand increase as social events and celebrations resume following the further relaxation of restrictions.
The update came as the retailer reported, in a trading update, sales of £17.3m in the first quarter of its financial year, from April 1 to June 30 2021. That’s up from £4.2m a year earlier. The recovery is underway both online and offline. Sales in its stores and concessions – which started to reopen from the third UK lockdown from mid-April onwards – reached £7.3m. That’s up from £0.2m a year earlier – when its shops were closed in the first lockdown, only able to reopen in the last two weeks of the comparable period. The retailer now operates 61 shops in the UK – 13 fewer than before the lockdown – and 45 concessions, down from 143. It benefited from being able to trade its Debenhams concessions before they closed following the department store’s administration, enabling it to clear most of the relevant stock.
Ecommerce sales recovered to £6.4m from £3.4m a year earlier. Sales through Quiz’ own websites reached £4.6m, up from £2.2m a year earlier, while sales through third-party websites came in at £1.8m, up from £1.2m a year earlier.
International sales, meanwhile, grew to £3.7m from £0.5m a year earlier. Quiz now has five International shops and 15 concessions, all in Ireland, having closed two shops and seven concessions over the last year. Income from international franchise partners came in at £3.1m over the quarter, up from £0.4m a year earlier.
