Jaeger Says Relauched Website Stitched Up Christmas

Fashion retailer Jaeger said a relaunch of its website last year helped it grow online sales by 57 per cent in the festive quarter.

The retailer said the boost over the 13 weeks to December 28 lifted total sales by 20 per cent and like-for-like sales by 23 per cent. Stores alone rose 10 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

The retailer was acquired by Jon Moulton's Better Capital in April 2012. In the year to February, sales fell 17 per cent to £70.7 million and pretax losses fell from £35.5 million to £13.1 million.

Jaeger said in a statement: 'Strong online sales were underpinned by recent website enhancements and a continuing robust performance from retail stores.'

According to Econsultancy.com, last year's major overhaul of the site followed a revamp only the year before. However, it said analysis in June last year revealed that, while searches for 'Jaeger' had grown between 2007 and 2011, they had then plateaued.

Econsultancy said the new, improved site had provided a 'good foundation in place' although noted a number of areas where the site could have been improved. It said, for example, that a clearer promotion of the option to use Paypal could have a significant effect on sales.

That said, a it is unlikely the site alone would have had such a marked effect if the retailer had not improved its fashion offer. Jaeger said sales at its Regent Street store had increased 50 per cent after the store was refurbished.

Jaeger chief executive Colin Henry said: 'We are extremely pleased with this strong performance, particularly as trading across the sector during this period was very competitive.'

He added: 'It is still early days in our turnaround and there is much to do to capitalise on the significant opportunities that we have.'

Amazon Gets Fashion Smart With US Clothing Sales Jump

US online giant Amazon has taken a bigger slice of the fashion market in the US with 10 per cent of the population saying they bought clothing via its site during December.

The number represented a 27 per cent increase on the same month last year, according to figures released by market analysts at Cowen & Co. The report said the clothing, in particular its fashion products, continues to grow 'dramatically'.

Just-Style.com quoted the report as saying: 'It is not a news flash that Amazon continues to gain market share from traditional retailers. Nonetheless, we think that investors may be underestimating the inroads that Amazon is making in apparel, including fashion apparel.'

Fashion sales grew at the faster rate of 37 per cent with 5 per cent of the US population admitting to purchasing more stylish goods.

White Stuff's Says Web Surges To Almost a Quarter Of Sales

Clothing retailer White Stuff saw a huge increase in online sales over Christmas and said internet sales are now approaching a quarter of all sales.

The company said a 52.9 per cent increase in sales in the 10 weeks to January 4 helped total sales rise 13.9 per cent. Online sales increased to 21.9 per cent of all sales.

Like-for-like sales at the business increased 7.3 per cent. It said 10 per cent of online sales were from click and collect and 36 per cent of online orders from mobile devices.

White Stuff chief executive Jeremy Seigal said the company offered fewer discounts 'against a heavy backdrop' of promotions in the market in the few weeks up to Christmas. He said customers 'responded very positively to our distinctive product and Christmas marketing initiatives' both on and offline.

He added: 'We are very pleased with our performance over Christmas, especially given the competitive market place and heavy discounting in the weeks running up to Christmas. Our customers responded very positively to our distinctive product and Christmas marketing initiatives, which we ran across our 88 shops and online.'