Annual web sales rise 37% for J.Crew
The Internet now is the fastest-growing and biggest direct marketing channel for J. Crew Group Inc.
In 2006, e-commerce sales for J. Crew grew by 36.8% to $218.6 million from $159.8 million in 2005. At the same time, J Crew, No. 57 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, reported net income of $77.8 million on revenue of $1.15 billion vs. net income of $3.8 million on sales of $953.1 million in 2005.
Overall the web accounted for 19% of total sales in 2006, but 71% of direct sales of $308.6 million. In 2006, catalog sales declined by 4.3% to $90 million from $93.9 million in 2005. “We continue to see the ongoing shift of orders to the Internet from our catalog,” the retailer says in its just released annual report.
The web also is an important part of J. Crew’s multi-channel marketing plan. In 2006, JCrew.com logged over 71 million visits, an increase of 11% over 2005 visits of 64 million. The apparel retailer maintains a direct marketing database of 22.8 million individual customer names, of which 2.5 million were households that had placed a direct marketing order or made a store purchase within the past year, according to the annual report. The company also regularly sends promotional e-mails to an opt-in list of three million names.
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