Fat Face shuns promotions for festive boost
FAT FACE chief executive Anthony Thompson said the firm owes its success over Christmas to holding its ground on promotions until Boxing Day, as festive sales jumped.
The casual clothing retailer, which pulled plans for a £300m float last year, reported a 13 per cent rise in sales in the five weeks to 3 January, while sales at stores open at least a year were up five per cent.
Unlike its high street peers, Thompson said the group resisted the urge to discount in the run-up to Christmas or take part in Black Friday weekend, benefitting from a “genuine Boxing Day sale”.
“When we did go on sale, our sale saw a number of records broken including the highest ever sales on Boxing Day itself and a strong online performance, where an order was being made every second at the peak,” he said.
Online sales grew by 25 per cent over the five-week period but jumped up by a record 113 per cent during Boxing Day week.
The warm autumn weather meant Fat Face’s over performance for the first half of the year was more mixed, with total sales across its 210 shops unchanged on last year at £99m.