Yahoo Finance Ted Baker and Boohoo secure soaring online sales as New Look suffers
Soaring sales at Ted Baker and Boohoo have shone a bright light into the retail gloom despite New Look enduring bitter trading on the high street.
Analysts said the retail industry was becoming “increasingly polarised”, as online retailers capitalise on the shift in shopping habits at the expense of traditional high street players.
Ted Baker's online sales climbed by 34pc for the 19 weeks to June 9, while fast fashion giant Boohoo recorded a 53pc jump in revenues to £183.6m for the three months ending in May.
However, New Look underscored the pain facing parts of the high street as it booked a £234.2m pre-tax loss for the last financial year following a failed attempt to appeal to “young and edgy” customers.
It comes as the retail industry continues to be rocked by a spate of restructurings, promising widespread store closures and thousands of job losses.
Charlotte Pearce, analyst at Globaldata, said successful online retailers were not just sheltered from the tough conditions on the high street, but had a sharp focus on the needs of their customers.
She said: “Retail in the UK has become increasingly polarised, with high street stalwarts suffering in recent times while online pure plays continuously achieve strong growth.
“Although there has been a lot of doom and gloom in terms of retail news, there is some positivity among this.
“While the likes of Ted Baker, Joules and boohoo.com are less exposed to low consumer confidence compared to other retailers, they are also inherently customer-focused which means they are able to retain and increase their shopper base.”
Fashion retailer Ted Baker booked a 4.2pc rise in group revenue for the 19 weeks to June 9 thanks to customer demand for the "colour by numbers" women's range.
Total retail sales including online expanded by a more modest 0.7pc over the period, as adverse weather conditions in Europe and the US hit in store sales.
Ray Kelvin, the chief executive and founder, said: “We could see the challenges on the high street coming, as younger generation began shopping online.
“We need the shops as a banner for our brand, so customers can touch and feel the products, but it does not operate on its own.”
Boohoo secured significant sales growth in the UK, expanding by 49pc to £110.7m during the three-month period.
This was partly underpinned by sub-brand PrettyLittleThing, which secured a 158pc rise in revenues to £79.2m.
The company expects group revenues to grow between 35pc and 40pc by the end of the latest financial year.
Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, joint CEOs of the retailer, said the size of its group revenue was aligning with the company’s ambition “to become one of the dominant global online retailers”.
In a contrast of fortunes, New Look recorded a loss before tax of £234.2m for the year to March 24, widening from a £16.6m loss over the period in 2017.
It suffered a £34.2m blow as it moved to clear excess stock following an ill-fated plan to improve margins by buying more products up front.
Executive chairman Alistair McGeorge said an attempt to go toe-to-toe with online fast-fashion brands such as ASOS and Boohoo had caused New Look to alienate its key customer base.
He said that “for whatever reason", New Look's previous management "had chosen to take the business younger and edgier, and our target consumer is 31 and not 21".
“Clearly we have alienated a lot of our more mature customers who are probably our best customers, who are the ones with the money."
