Studio Retail reports product sales grew 30% against the equivalent period from the year before.
Studio Retail is the latest ecommerce retailer to benefit from the substantial rise in online shopping over the lockdown period, after recording a surge in half-year sales.
In the last six weeks since the company’s last trading update in late August, Studio Retail, formerly known as Findel, said product sales grew 30% against the equivalent period from the year before, despite bricks-and-mortar retailers being able to reopen from 15th June in the UK. This brings Studio’s total products sales growth, for the six month period ending 24th August, to 39% year-on-year.
The company has said its main Studio Retail business enjoyed “strong retail trading” in the early weeks of the new autumn/winter season, with kids wear, gifting and early Christmas ranges seeing encouraging results.
Online sales now represent more than 90% of total orders, with the home and leisure category being particularly strong categories with sales rising 80%. Clothing and footwear sales increased by 22% in the six-month period, despite Studio choosing to “de-risk” seasonal clothing ranges at the start of lockdown. This subsequently allowed the retailer to exit the spring/summer season with a “clean stock position”.
Studio also said its active customer base has grown by 15% in the last 12 months, currently standing at 2.1m customers, with around 1.4m customers having an active credit account with the company.
The company said in its trading update: “The peak trading period of Q3 covering Black Friday and Christmas is still ahead of us, which historically accounts for around 40% of the full year’s product sales. Notwithstanding the inherent uncertainties that continue to be presented by Covid-19, we currently expect the adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations for FY21 to be ahead of our previous internal expectations.”
Studio said it would publish the full interim results, including profit figures, on 8th December.
