Record trading brings festive cheer to retailer House of Fraser
HOUSE of Fraser has posted a record Christmas, buoyed by Black Friday and strong online sales, lifting expectations for the department store group’s full-year results.
Like-for-like sales for the six weeks to 3 January rose eight per cent, with online sales up 31.2 per cent while sales from bricks and mortar stores rose 4.2 per cent. It singled out its house brands – names such as Linea and Army & Navy – as performing particularly well, up 11.2 per cent.
While Black Friday is expected to have eaten into margins for most retailers, the retailer said its cash gross margins rose nine per cent year-on-year.
On the day itself, online sales were up 125 per cent on the same date in 2013. and up nearly 70 per cent on House of Fraser’s former record for online sales.
The group, which last year was bought by Chinese retail group Nanjing Xinjiekou, also delivered a record seven days before Christmas, with a 6.8 per cent improvement in the gross margin rate, while like-for-likes were up 6.7 per cent.