E-commerce sales at footwear manufacturer Skechers USA Inc. increased 13.4% in 2008 to $18.1 million from $15.9 million in 2007, an increase of $2.2 million, the company reported this week in its 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Total 2008 sales for Skechers, No. 362 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, increased 3% to $1.441 billion from $1.394 billion in 2007. Web sales accounted for 1% of sales both years.
Skechers also operates 204 of its own branded stores in the U.S. and 19 internationally. Stores sales increased 1.4% to $283.1 million in 2008 from $279.4 million in 2007, an increase of $3.7 million. But the increase was due solely opening 32 stores. Comparable store sales were down 9.3% in the U.S. and 3.3% internationally.
U.S. sales in Skechers wholesale division fell by 2.9% to $807.0 million in 2008 compared to $831.2 million in 2007, a decline of $24.2 million.
As reported earlier, net earnings for 2008 were $55.4 million versus net earnings of $75.7 million in 2007. Skechers suffered a net loss for the fourth quarter of $20.4 million versus net earnings of $12.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. The company says the Q4 loss was the result of deterioration in gross margin because of price cutting to bring inventory under control as the economy declined in 2008. It expects gross margin to recover in 2009.
Laura Christine, Skechers’ vice president of e-commerce, is speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 15-18, 2009, in Boston in a session titled Everything you always wanted to know about ad networks—but didn't know where to begin.
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