Douglas posts Q4 like-for-like sales growth of 7.3 percent

European beauty platform Douglas recorded an increase in like-for-like sales of 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020/2021. With a sales increase of 16.7 percent to 211 million euros, the company said, momentum in e-commerce continued unabated in the quarter under review. Instore business saw like-for-like sales rise by 3.7 percent to 537 million euros.

The company reported year-on-year increase in online sales of almost 50 percent, which compensated for a decline in in-store sales of around 19 percent like-for-like as a result of the pandemic.

Commenting on the results, Tina Müller, Douglas Group CEO said: “Thanks to our consistent digitalisation strategy #Forwardbeauty.DigitalFirst, we managed to sustain robust growth in e-commerce in the fourth quarter even after the stores re-opened, gaining further market shares and outperforming the market as a whole. After months of lockdowns in the previous quarters, the stores have now bounced back well. At the same time, we’ve augmented our operating result and, thus, also our profitability by a significant degree.”

Compared to the full year 2018/2019, group sales rose 10 percent, while sales in e-commerce doubled. After months of lockdowns, the fourth quarter saw a recovery in in-store business too, this segment posting a like-for-like increase in sales of 3.7 percent to 537 million euros.

The company has rolled out its marketplace in five countries, thus increasing the online sales share from 25 percent to 38 percent. In addition to several new exclusive and trending brands, fiscal year 2020/21 saw Douglas expand its product range to include more than 160,000 products in its online shop, marketplace and stores. This constitutes an increase of more than 20 percent compared to the previous year. The fourth quarter also saw the first pharmacy counter open in its flagship store on the Zeil shopping street in Frankfurt.