J.C. Penney’s online sales boom while store sales remain flat

E-commerce sales marked the brightest spot for J.C. Penney Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter, rising 21.4 %, while catalog sales dived and same-store sales rose only slightly, the retailer reports.

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J.C. Penney’s online sales for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 reached $381 million, up 17.8% from a year ago.

By comparison, Q4 direct sales--web and catalog--decreased 20.7%, to $772 million from $973 million. The retailer said overall direct sales decreased 22% for the year ended Jan. 31, to $2.6 billion from $3.3 billion.

It said Q4 same-store sales grew 1.9% over the year-ago period, to $4.99 billion from $4.9 billion a year ago. For the year ended Jan. 31, same-store sales grew 2.6%, to $15 billion from $14.8 billion.