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House of Fraser reports on the importance of eCommerce

Privately owned fashion retailer House of Fraser has today issued it’s long term growth strategy, which includes heavy investment in it’s eCommerce website following growth of more than 107% in just the first half of the company’s financial year!

This rapid increase has made www.houseoffraser.co.uk its largest store, with gross profit hitting £94.9m – an increase of £4.4m in the 6 month period.

The report also highlighted the success of the redesigned website, which in turn has encouraged customers to buy online with improved customer service, a new focus on customer loyalty and efficient delivery options. The website now offers more than 1,000 brands, and with new delivery options such as ‘click and collect’, customers can browse stock online and have it in hand the next day.

The company said there was also tight controls on costs. Its costs rose by £5.1m in the first half of the year, but, said the retailer about £3m of this was related to increases in volume associated with its multichannel operations and house brands – sales of those house brands rose by 32% in the half year.

Chief Executive of House of Fraser, John King, said: “Our first half performance is testament to the fact that we are taking the right steps to fulfill our customers’ needs. We have experienced a slower start to the second half, however we are encouraged by the pickup in the subsequent weeks.

“There is no doubt market conditions will remain challenging and we will remain cautious for the remainder of the year. However we believe believe that our investments in our multi-channel operations and store refurbishments combined with our exclusive House Brand offering, will continue to deliver growth.

With the decrease in high street sales across the UK, many businesses, from small boutiques to multi national department stores, are choosing to invest more time and money in eCommerce. The rapidity with which Internet use has grown and spread during the last decade means that many consumers can order good online, often at a cheaper price, and have it delivered the very next day for little cost.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 10:39 and is filed under e-Commerce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.