GLASGOW-based fashion retailer Quiz has reported turnover growth of 30 per cent for the year to the end of March, driven in the main by the rapid expansion of its online business.
Overall, turnover at the AIM-listed business increased from £89.8 million to £116.4m.
Of that, £30.6m came from online sales, representing a 158% increase on the previous year. Chief commercial officer Sheraz Ramzan said there were “a number of reasons” for the growth.
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“There’s been some investment in our systems and platforms,” he said.
“We launched a new distribution facility a few years back and that gave us the platform to ramp up online sales.
“We’ve also started to invest a lot more in marketing on social media and that’s really started to drive traffic online.”
Chief financial officer Gerry Sweeney said the increased marketing spend as well as an accelerated recruitment drive means growth in profitability for the year is expected to be lower than turnover growth.
Having made a pre-tax profit of £8.1m in the year to March 2017, the firm expects to make profits of £9.9m for 2017/18, a rise of 22%.
Elsewhere, the firm’s high street stores and concessions posted turnover growth of 12% to £64.6m while its international business, which is focused on the Middle East and parts of Asia, posted a rise of 32% to £21.2m.
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Mr Sweeney said he expected online sales to overtake high street sales in the next two years, but added that the firm still plans to roll out shop launches, especially in the south of England.
“We have modest plans for more stores - around half a dozen this year,” he said. “If I could wave a magic wand I’d put another 30 stores in the UK but in the last two or three years we’ve average seven to eight a year.
“We are very particular in terms of getting the right site and malls are increasingly the preference.”
Quiz will shortly launch into the US market, selling through 30 of retailer Lord & Taylor’s stores.
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