Myer online growth doubles in Q3
As Myer continues to progress on the rollout of its five-point plan, it has reported a 0.93 percent decline in total sales compared with last year to AU$646.5 million for the third quarter ending 26 April 2014.
The retail giant also reported a 0.24 percent increase in comparable store sales in the third quarter compared to last year.
Myer CEO, Bernie Brookes, said the company is pleased with the comparable store sales results despite a slide in total sales due to the impact of ongoing store refurbishments.
"It was encouraging to achieve another quarter of comparable store sales growth which has now been achieved in the seven of the last eight quarters," he said.
On the plus side, Brookes highlighted the company's total online sales were strong. Without disclosing any specifics, Brookes said Myer's online store more than doubled in growth during the quarter.
"The best performing categories online were toys, followed by cosmetics which reflected the increase in ranging in cosmetics, and apparel," he said.
Brookes attributed the increase in online sales to its clearance, stocktake and one day online sales.
"There's no doubt the customer that shops online is very cognisant of the price and we have to make sure your price is competitive," he said.
"We can't fit a bra online or a suit online but one thing we have done is started to put more gift with purchase so there is a reason for coming to the Myer website, as it gives a unique offering. We have a very heavy focus on Myer exclusive brands online to provide the differential; certainly this is a big response to prices online that we're seeing when we run a sale."
The company said it expanded its online range increasing its stock-keeping units to over 119,000 and saw over nine million visits online during the quarter.
"We're seeing a lot more applications through tablets and mobile," Brookes said.
"Some weeks as much as 40 percent of the application is being through tablet and mobile. We're seeing a 300 percent increase in mobile application compared to desktop application and that does reflect the nature of what is generally happening in the online space."
The latest results are consistent with the results Myer reported during the first half of 2014 financial year where online sales drove half-year sales up 0.3 percent to AU$1,737 million.