Sept. Sales a Mixed Bag for Multichannel Merchants
J. C. Penney Company Inc. announced that total direct sales for the five weeks ending Sept. 30, 2006 increased 11.8% over the same month last year to $284 million. That compares to a year-over-year increase of only 0.4% in September 2005 and a direct-sales total of $254 million for the month.
The company said that Internet sales through the JCP.com Web site continue to represent its fastest-growing sales channel. September Web sales posted a 36% increase over Internet sales for the same month last year — a figure that itself represented a 30% increase over Penney’s Web sales for September 2004.
Year-over-year sales at the company’s department stores also rose 10.2% in September to $1.38 billion. Total company sales for the month were $1.66 billion, up 10.4% from the same month last year.
Despite these results, softness in big-ticket home categories is leading J. C. Penney to predict that October comparable store sales and direct sales will only increase “in the low single digits”.
JoS. A. Bank Clothiers reported yesterday that sales for September increased 14.4% to $46.1 million, compared to $40.3 million in September 2005. Comparable store sales increased 2.7% in September 2006, compared with an increase of 12.9% in the fiscal month of September 2005, the company reported. Combined catalog and Internet sales increased 35.6% in fiscal September 2006, as compared with fiscal September 2005.
Total sales for the eight months ended September 30, 2006 increased 16.9% to $308.5 million, compared with $263.8 million in the same period a year ago, according to the company. Also, comparable store sales increased 5.2%, while combined catalog and Internet sales increased 23.3% in the eight months ended September 30, 2006, as compared with the same prior year period, JoS. A. Bank reported.
Sharper Image Corp. announced that an increase in September catalog and direct sales was not enough to offset declines in store and Internet sales for the month and.
Total catalog and direct marketing sales (including wholesale) for the San Francisco-based specialty retailer were $9.8 million for the month, a 2% increase over $9.6 million during the same month in 2005. But at $4.5 million, Internet sales were off 16% from last September’s figure. And sales at Sharper Image company stores brought in $17.5 million for the month, 18% lower than the same month in 2005. Comparable store sales for the month were down 21% year over year.
