Quiz today reported online sales up by more than 200% in its latest half-year.
The fast fashion womenswear retailer, a Top100 trader in IRUK Top500 research reported group revenue of £56.1m in the six months to September 30, up by 35.2% on the same time last year, with online sales of £13.8m, via its own website and third-party sites. Thats up by 204.6% on the £4.5m it reported last time. International sales of £10m were 26.1% up on last time. Revenue from stores was also up by 32.1% at £6.2m, as the retailer opened new branches.
Underlying pre-tax profits came in at £4.8m, 31% up on the £3.7m reported at the same time last year, but after one-off finance costs, bottom-line pre-tax profits of £3.7m were down by 0.2% on last time.
Chief executive Tarak Ramzan said: “We are pleased to report a very good performance for the Quiz brand in the first half of the financial year with strong growth delivered across each of the brand’s distribution channels, most notably online and international.
“The group’s strong performance is a reflection of the growing awareness of the Quiz brand and increasing demand for our products that offer the latest glamorous looks and occasion wear at great value.
“Current trading has remained strong since the period end and, underpinned by our strong collections, the Group enters the important Christmas trading period with good momentum. The Board remains confident of delivering growth across all channels for the full year.”
Here’s what the retailer said about its multichannel strategy.
The customer
Quiz said its active online customer base grew by 85.8% to 262,000 during the half year.
Stores, at home and abroad
Quiz sells through stores and concessions in department stores including House of Fraser and Debenhams as well as online, and by the end of November 2017 will have opened five new stores and seven concessions in the UK market, while also opening three stores in Madrid, Spain and a store and a concession in the Republic of Ireland. It has also launched a Spanish website, and aims to launch one in the US by the end of the financial year.
It has now brought iPads into all its stores to enable customers to access the full product range in-store.
Marketing and social media
Quiz said that sales growth had come as a result of “targeted and effective marketing”, both at home and abroad and online and offline. Social media engagement also grew as a result, with its Instagram audience up by 190% and its Facebook following by 57%.
Mobile
Mobile was the main driver behind fast-growing website traffic, up by 61.5% year-on-year. The retailer has, since the end of the half-year, launched Android and iOS apps, which integrate more easily with social media and advertising campaigns, while, it said, giving users a better brand experience.
Logistics
Fast growth in online sales means the company has brought forward its investment to expand its distribution centre, which opened in 2016
