Web sales rise modestly for Penney in Q2

For the first time J.C. Penney Co. is breaking out dollar figures for quarterly e-commerce sales, and the numbers for the second quarter show only a modest gain.

For the quarter ended July 31, J.C. Penney, No. 16 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, reported:

• Web sales in the second quarter increased about 4% to $317 million from $305.1 million in the second quarter of 2009.

• Total sales decreased 0.1% to $3.938 billion from $3.943 billion in the second quarter of 2009.

• Comparable-store sales increased 0.9%.

• Net income was $14 million compared with a loss of $1 million in the second quarter of 2009.

Internet Retailer calculates the Internet accounted for 8% of total sales in the quarter compared with 7.7% in the prior year. 

J.C. Penney didn’t break out year-to-date web sales, but for the first six months did report:

• Total sales increased 0.5% to $7.867 billion from $7.827 billion in the prior year.

• Net income increased year over year 208.3% to $74 million from $24 million.

• Comparable-store sales increased 1.3%.

J.C. Penney continues to make the web into an even bigger sales channel. The retailer will use an aggressive mix of new e-commerce technology and other tactics to generate $1 billion in new Internet revenue over the next four to five years, J.C. Penney told Wall Street analysts in June.