Third quarter web sales grow 20% at 1-800-Flowers.com

Online sales at 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. totaled $110.3 million for the third quarter of the 2006 fiscal year, up 20.3% from $91.6 million a year earlier. Reflecting the continued migration of customers to the company’s online channel, telephone sales declined 1.7% to $51.5 million compared with $52.4 million in the third quarter last year.

“Our third quarter results showed a continuation of the positive trend in our business, including double-digit revenue growth, driven by our expanded marketing programs both online and offline, and an improvement in gross profit margin,” says CEO Jim McCann.

During the third quarter, 1-800-Flowers attracted 824,000 new customers, with 73%, or more than 600,000, coming in online. Repeat orders represented 58% of total revenue for the company, consistent with the prior-year period.

Total revenue for the quarter was $180 million, up 14.6% from a year ago. The company posted a net loss for the quarter of $821,000 versus $2 million in the prior-year period.

1-800-Flowers is No. 30 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites