Store-within-a-store strategy takes hold.

 

Sales at New Zealand’s Warehouse Stationery’s 70 stores fell 1.9 per cent to NZ$61.8 million in the first quarter but were slightly up on a store-for-store basis. 

 

Under the company’s store-within-a-store strategy, six stationery outlets were moved inside the larger The Warehouse stores during the quarter, taking the total to 23.

 

The country’s largest listed retailer said group sales rose 6.3 per cent to NZ$738.5 million in the 13 weeks to 1 November. Online sales jumped 58 per cent to NZ$83.7 million, and now make up 11.3 per cent of all sales, up from 7.6 per cent last year.

 

A surge in online shopping boosted sales and profit margins at The Warehouse, which reported increased demand for bikes, outdoor gear and computers in the first quarter.

 

The company said sales through its online platform TheMarket.com were in line with expectations. The platform, launched in August last year, now hosts more than 4000 brands and two million products. It achieved more than one million monthly sessions over the quarter, up 300 per cent from last year.

 

Warehouse Group CEO Nick Grayston has previously said TheMarket was expected to lose money for the first few years.