Hotel Chocolat flexes multichannel model to boost sales
Hotel Chocolat has posted a 19% increase in total group revenue in the 13 weeks to 27 December.
In a trading update, the retailer said strong online growth in the UK more than compensated for the impact of temporary store closures due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, sales in the US rose by 19% after the retailer rapidly adapted its multichannel business model during the pandemic.
Angus Thirlwell, co-founder and chief executive of Hotel Chocolat, said: “The strength of the brand and our ability to flex our multichannel model meant that despite the challenging environment every business and every family has faced, we were able to keep on delivering chocolat happiness, launch new products and deliver strong sales growth.
“The growth momentum stepped up in Japan and the US, and we have seen that it’s underpinned by what the Hotel Chocolat brand brings that is differentiated and exciting to these mega markets. Encouragingly, we have also made significant progress in the period in building an operational platform for future growth.”
The figures mean that total group revenue in the 26 weeks to 27 December rose by 11% compared to the same period in the prior year.
Hotel Chocolat said trading since December has continued to be in line with management expectations.
Looking ahead, Thirlwell added: “Whilst there is still further near-term pandemic-related uncertainty, and ongoing increased costs in reacting to it, I am increasingly confident that in the medium-term we can deliver significant further growth in the UK, USA and Japan.”
