Online sales help N Brown buck retail decline

Online sales at catalogue retailer N Brown grew by 48 per cent in the 20 weeks leading to 12 January 2008 and now account for almost a third of its overall sales.

The retailer, which operates under the JD Williams, Oxendales, Simply Be and other brands, said online sales growth quickened by eight percentage points compared to the previous half-year.

Internet sales now account for 28 per cent of total sales.

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The retailer's overall sales increased by 14.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, bucking the trend suffered by high street retailers of a poor run up to Christmas and an unsteady outlook for 2008.

In a statement, N Brown said: "Our success of our overall strategy to focus on niche customers and products is evidenced by our continued sales growth, which has been achieved despite the postal strike in October 2007, and the impact of other external retail market conditions."

Gross margin for the company was 0.5 per cent below the previous year's rate, but operational cost savings - achieved through the disposal of its fulfilment arm Zendor - and the growth in online sales offset marginal decline and funded customer recruitment and reactivation campaigns.