Web sales up but total sales down for Blair
Though overall sales are down for the first six months this year as the result of closing down its Crossing Pointe catalog and its Allegheny Trail brand, Blair Corp. is reporting higher e-commerce sales.
For January through June, e-commerce sales for Blair totaled $53.5 million, an increase of 16.3% from e-commerce sales of $46 million for the first six months of 2005. At the same time total sales declined 4.7% from $228.4 million from January through June 2005 to $217.7 million for the first half of 2006.
“During the second quarter of 2006, web site traffic increased 22% over second quarter 2005 levels,” Blair says in its recently released earnings report. “Purchase conversion rates also increased 6%, demonstrating our customers’ increased willingness to buy online. In addition, the revenue resulting from investments in keyword searches rose 84%.”
To attract more web shoppers, No. 95 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites , upgraded its e-commerce platform with improved site search and guided navigation. In the second quarter, Blair reported web sales of $27 million, an increase of 18.2% from e-commerce revenue of $22.8 million in Q2 2005. Total sales were $115 million, a decrease of 4.8% from sales of $120.8 million in the second quarter of 2005.
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