N Brown Web Sales Rise 15%

Catalogue giant N Brown said its internet sales rose 15 per cent after it invested in its web sites and offered some products exclusively on the internet.

The retailer, whose brands include Simply Be, Figleaves and Jacamo, said internet sales in the year to March 2 rose to £424 million and now account for 55 per cent of group sales. The percentage of online sales has increased by about 5 per cent a year for the past eight years, it said.

It added mobile friendly sites to all its businesses by the financial year-end after an 'explosion' of traffic via mobile devices. Mobile now accounts for 26 per cent of all online sessions and 23 per cent of value transacted. It said newer methods of recruitment such as 'pay per click' were bringing in an overall younger shopper. However, it also said there is evidence that older consumers are adapting to tablet computers at an increasing rate. That meant it may hasten its move from paper catalogues to digital in the coming years, the company said.

It also said its web sites had allowed it to be more flexible. The group launched 84,000 product options only available on its web sites and not featured in its catalogues. That contributed to about £42 million of revenue.

Simply Yours: owner N Brown targets
customers with fuller figures online

The Manchester-based firm has web sites in Germany, Ireland and the US. It traditionally targets older, over-50s shoppers but has more recently focused on its brands targeting younger internet-savvy consumers. It also sells clothes in larger sizes and its Simply Be business includes sizes from 14 to 32.

Total sales at the business grew 6 per cent to £784.7 million. N Brown has been launching web sites overseas and has opened stores to compliment its online and catalogue divisions 'to be truly multichannel,' it said. It is testing the strategy for its younger brands aimed at the consumers in their 30s and 40s. During the year it opened a further five Simply Be women's clothing stores and in three of those included space for a Jacamo range.

'We are in the process of evaluating the incrementality of these sales, the positive halo effect on online sales and the projected return on capital achievable. Assuming this evaluation is positive we will look to open a limited number of stores in high footfall locations,' the company said.

It invested £25 million during the year online and on new stores. As a result profit grew by only 2.6 per cent to £96.4 million. Dedicated websites for Marisota and Jacamo are being established in the US to complement its existing Simply Be and Figleaves businesses.

Brands also include Simply Yours, Fashion World, Marisota, High & Mighty, JD Williams, Fifty Plus, Premier Man, Julipa, Naturally Close and The Brilliant Gift Shop. It uses celebrities such as Freddie Flintoff, Claire Sweeney and Claire Richards to promote its brands.


Tags: N Brown, Simply Be, Figleaves, Marisota, Jacamo, High & Mighty, Fashion World,  Marisota, High & Mighty, JD Williams, Fifty Plus, Premier Man, Julipa, Naturally Close, The Brilliant Goft Shop, Freddie Flintoff, Claire Sweeney, Claire Richards, ecommerce, internet shopping, etail, web retailing, online shopping, catalogue retail