Jack Wills boosts margins and m-commerce in December

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 23, 2017

UK youth-focused retailer Jack Wills may have seen just a 1% rise in comparable sales over the Christmas period but it saw strong performances in key categories. And its profit margin rose by 6% year-on-year, it said at the weekend.

For the five-week December period, Jack Wills told Fashion Network that women’s loungewear rose 20% and women’s underwear was up 10% while the bath & beauty category powered ahead by an impressive 44%.

International sales also doubled year-on-year and m-commerce sales grew by 60% as Christmas 2016 turned into a mobile-first season. The firm’s festive season growth online was aided by it offering next-day delivery up until 20:30 on December 23.

The brand’s co-founder, Peter Williams, returned to run the business last year after it had gone through a bruising period and said that it also benefitted from the launch of its activewear range.

Although unveiled officially this month, it was given a soft launch online in December and Williams told Fashion Network that the reaction to it had been positive. “The early response has been really good. We put some of it online over Christmas and traffic was very busy. That gave us strong early indicators and we have high hopes for it,” he said.