House of Fraser celebrates record Christmas as sales rise 6.3%
House of Fraser has enjoyed its best-ever Christmas sales period as like-for-like sales rose 6.3% in the six weeks to 5 January 2013.
The department store saw record sales in the two weeks before Christmas. In the six week period, there was a positive sales performance across both its stores and online, with online sales rising by a record breaking 48%.
Sales growth was seen in all categories, with a particularly strong performance in Fashion and Beauty. In addition, there was a 10% rise in sales of the department store’s house brands.
House of Fraser said its like-for-like sales for the first 10 weeks of the fourth quarter had risen by 5.2%.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Commenting on the figures, Don McCarthy, chairman of House of Fraser said: “This performance demonstrates the success of our strategy to continuously improve our online proposition, develop both our House Brands and fashion credentials and invest in our stores to give our customer the best possible shopping experience.”
The department stores said that 2012 was a challenging year in retail and that it was difficult to predict when economic conditions would improve. However, McCarthy added: “With the strong sales performance in the period and a close focus on margins and operational efficiencies, we expect to report growth in full year earnings in line with previous indications. Given the sales performance, we also expect to finish the year with a cleaner stock position and are well placed to deliver further growth in 2013.”
