Surprise sales hike attributed to “refreshed” Aussie stores.
“Comparable” growth in the yellow store’s Australian network rose 7.1% for the full year to June 26, (excluding ex Powerhouse and Tandy), its parent company Woolworths announced yesterday.
“The new format Dick Smith stores continue to grow sales at a greater rate than the older format stores,” the giant confirmed in a statement.
There were 47 new Dick Smith stores opened during the year (41 in Australia, six in NZ). 56 Dick Smith and 13 Tandy stores were closed and 5 Tandy stores rebranded as Dick Smith, taking the total to 394 (390 DS and four Tandy).
However, the news wasn’t so good for Dick Smith’s New Zealand stores, which saw disappointing fourth quarter sales, falling 6.8%. Three of it store closures were as a result of the earthquake earlier this year.
Total group CE sales were $1.3 billion for the quarter, which includes Dick Smith network, showed an overall rise of 2.1% compared to the previous year and comparable sales were up 4.2% for the full year.
This was attributed to “continued roll out of our refreshed Dick Smith offer, which has driven market share growth in key categories.”Customer numbers and “average basket size” also increased at the giant.
However, Q4 sales drooped 4.1%, falling to 3.0% after Easter break was taken into account.
This overall spike was despite consumers tightening spending on electronics in Australia along with other negating factors including price deflation driven by strong Aussie dollar.
Big W, Woolies’ other electronics giant, recorded an 0.8% slump in sales compared to the same period a year ago. Sales for the full year were $4.2 billion – a full year decline of 2.5%.
However, despite the slumping sales trends are “encouraging and show an improved second half,” which showed a 2 per cent lift, Woolworth’s said in a statement.
The supermarket giant also made massive progress in its move to online channels, which boosted e-sales 63%.
Woolies “made substantial progress in delivering a multi channel experience across all our brands resulting in multi channel online sales increasing 63% for the year.”
Total sales of $54.1 billion, a $2.4 billion or 4.7% increase on the previous year (4.1% increase excluding petrol), were recorded for the Woolworths group.
“This result reflects the success of the BIG W online store launched in May 2010, the refreshed Dick Smith online store as well as the expansion of Woolworths online into new metropolitan and regional areas.”
“This result has been achieved in a very challenging year for retail which saw continuing deflationary effects, the disruption caused by natural disasters, increased consumer caution and higher domestic savings rates. This outcome reflects our ability to adapt and perform in all economic environments, “Woolworths Limited Chief Executive Officer, Michael Luscomb said.
