E-commerce was a bright spot for Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. over the past year, and the luxury goods maker has plans to expand its online sales globally in the coming years, company executives say.
Online sales grew 18.7%, or $27.1 million, to $172.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 28 from $145.2 million in the prior fiscal year, and increased by 12% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period a year ago. By comparison, comparable-store sales declined 5.2% during the fiscal year and 15.9% in the fiscal fourth quarter, the company says in its recently filed annual report.
The company’s total net revenue increased 2.8% during the fiscal year to $5.0 billion, and declined 1% in the fourth quarter to $1.22 billion. Net income for the fiscal year was $406 million, down 3.3% from $420 million the prior year. Net income for the fourth quarter was $45 million, including restructuring charges related to the layoff of 500 employees, compared with $104 million in the prior-year quarter.
The company’s primary e-commerce site, RalphLauren.com, averaged 2.9 million unique visitors a month during the fiscal year and acquired 350,000 new customers, finishing with a total of 1.7 million customers in fiscal 2009. In the fourth quarter, traffic to the site continued to grow at double-digit rates, but conversion and average order value fell, chief financial officer Tracey T. Travis told analysts in a conference call last week.
Rugby.com, a second e-commerce site the company launched in August 2008, “has been better than expected with traffic and conversion trending ahead of plan,” Travis said.
President and chief operating officer Roger Farah called RalphLauren.com “a pillar of our strategy to expand our direct-to-consumer reach” in his comments to analysts. “We continue to invest in the technology supporting RalphLauren.com and to enhance the customer shopping experience whether through energizing the site with rich editorial content, launching iPhone applications or growing our mobile commerce capabilities,” Farah told analysts. “We expect many years of strong growth from RalphLauren.com particularly as we contemplate rolling it out globally over the next several years.” He did not elaborate on the global expansion plans.
RalphLauren.com is No. 88 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
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