E-commerce provided the only sales lift in the second quarter for apparel retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., and company executives say they have plans for using the web to better connect with youthful customers, including in stores.
For the quarter ended Aug. 1:
- Web sales increased 12.5% to about $9 million in the second quarter from $8 million in the same period a year ago.
- Total sales declined 22.4% to $242.8 million in Q2 from $312.7 million in the second quarter of 2008.
- Comparable-store sales were down 24%.
- The web’s portion of total sales increased to 3.7% in the second quarter from 2.6% a year earlier.
- The retailer posted a net loss of $14.5 million compared with net income of $2.8 million in the previous year.
“We’re still in the early innings in terms of really developing what online can mean to the company,” CEO Gary H. Schoenfeld told stock analysts in a conference call last week.
He said the retailer hopes to bring its e-commerce site, PacSun.com, into its stores before the holiday shopping season begins, but did not elaborate on how the web site would be used in stores. There are more opportunities to connect with online consumers via social networking, he added.
Overall, he said PacSun must “interject more personality into our messaging. The teen customer today is not looking for just clean and orderly, but they’re very much about creativity and fun.” He added later, “We’ve taken some positive steps with our store visuals this back to school, and the online world is one we’re just scratching the surface of with some fun things to come. I think PacSun has lost some of its cachet and vitality as a destination for teens and we’re actually committed to getting that back.”
Pacific Sunwear is No. 275 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
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