Clothing sales help Findel post 8.7% retail revenue growth

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jun 6, 2018

British multi-channel retailer Findel said the clothing range in its Express Gifts division performed strongly in financial year 2018, with over half of new customers buying from this range during the period.

The Manchester-based company said clothing sales increased by 14.2% in the 52 weeks to 30 March, and accounted for 28.9% of sales. This was only surpassed by the household category, the largest sales driver for the company, with growth of 16.7% during the period.

Findel’s Express Gifts division trades predominantly under the Studio home shopping brand as well as the smaller Ace title. The websites and catalogues offer discount clothing, footwear, home and leisure, toys and gift products.

Total sales at the online value retail division increased by 8.7%, said Findel, while profits edged up to £19.6m, compared to a loss of £57.7m in the financial year 2017.

Express Gifts continued its digital transformation and said 68% of its 1.8m consumers are now ordering online. The active customer based increased by 0.2m compared to the previous year, and 84% of new customers placed their first order online.

Phil Maudsley, group chief executive, said he was “delighted to report that we have more customers shopping with Studio than ever before”.

“This has been a year of good sales growth and improved profitability through our focus on delivering great-value products to our customers across all channels. The year has also seen significant progress against our strategic objectives and both businesses continue to transform their digital sales offering,” he added.

The company has recently partnered with Sports Direct, its largest shareholder, to include licensed menswear ranges within the Studio Spring/Summer season. The success of this venture will be revealed in the coming months, and inform the possible launch of other Sports Direct-owned brands in the future.