SuperGroup, owner of the Superdry brand, is set to trial a Chinese website next year. The news of the site, which is currently under development and will be fulfilled from the UK, came as the fashion retailer today said that its ecommerce sales grew by 27.8% in its latest financial year, and now account for 11.2% of group revenue. That’s up from 10% at the end of last year.
Total revenue grew by 14.9% to £360.4m in the year to April 28. Retail sales grew by 5.7% on a like-for-like basis, and pre-tax profits rose by 0.8% to £51.8m.
The fashion retailer now sells to 122 countries through 16 Superdry websites, after adding 10 new local language sites during the course of its latest financial year in countries from Canada to Switzerland, Sweden and Spain. As with the forthcoming Chinese website, all are fulfilled from the UK, a move that allows them to carry the full Superdry range.
Ecommerce is one of the five pillars of the Superdry strategy. The others include expanding the UK and European standalone retail estate, expanding overseas through franchising, widening the product range and developing an efficient operations infrastructure. The company currently has 330 outlets worldwide, of which it owns 113 and 142 are franchises.
Julian Dunkerton, chief executive of SuperGroup, said: “The enduring appeal of the Superdry brand and the improvements and extensions to the ranges, in particular the progress made in womenswear, gives me confidence that there are significant opportunities for growth across all channels and geographies.
“I am pleased by the performance of 2013 ranges and the early reaction to 2014 product and remain confident in the prospects for the Group.”
Over the course of the year SuperGroup rebranded its 20 Cult stores to Superdry. The brand now only sells online through Cult.co.uk.
