An in-store pickup service for online orders launched a month ago at home furnishings retailer Bombay Co. is proving popular with online customers and is part of an overall Internet strategy to boost company profits, CEO David Stewart says.
“This initiative is indicative of the company’s focus on improving its growing Internet business,” Stewart says. “We believe that our Internet strategy continues to present an excellent opportunity to leverage our expense base into meaningful, profitable growth.” Bombay is No. 277 in the 2007 edition of the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, up from No. 291 in the 2006 edition.
Bombay’s retail e-commerce business—it sells online at Bombayco.com, BombayKids.com and BombayOutlet.com—is showing the strongest performance among its three selling channels. The web accounted for most of the 29% growth in Bombay’s combined web and catalog direct business for the first quarter ended May 5, when direct sales rose to $8.5 million from $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter, the retailer says.
In comparison, total Q1 revenue fell 11.9% year-over-year to $104.6 million from $118.7 million, as same-store sales dropped 10.2%. Same-store sales, also called comp store sales, are sales from stores open at least a year and are used as a common measurement of a retailer’s offline performance. Bombay ended the quarter with 419 stores after closing 24 locations including 11 BombayKids stores.
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