Strong online sales at Aritzia soften Covid impact

A surge in online sales at Canadian womenswear brand Aritzia almost completely offset revenue lost through its closed stores in the fourth quarter of the year.

For the three months ended February 28, net revenue dropped 2.9 percent to 267.5 million Canadian dollars, driven by a 57 million dollar drop in retail revenue linked to closed stores, and 18 million dollars related to occupancy restrictions and reduced operating hours.

The company said 39 of 101 of its boutiques were closed for the majority of the quarter.

But that was almost completely offset by an 81.1 percent increase in e-commerce sales to 67 million dollars.

Net income for the quarter fell 26 percent to 16.1 million dollars.

“Our financial results for the fourth quarter demonstrated the strength of our multi-channel business and the growing affinity for our brand,” said founder and CEO Brian Hill in a release.

For the full year, net revenue dropped 12.6 percent to 857.3 million dollars, while e-commerce revenue jumped 88.3 percent to 425.9 million dollars.

Net income fell 79 percent to 19.2 million dollars.

The company said current first-quarter trading “is off to a strong start”, and now believes it’s on track to deliver net revenue growth of approximately 110 percent to 234 million dollars.

“Looking ahead, we are expediting investments across our four key strategic growth drivers: digital innovation of e-commerce and omni, geographical retail expansion, ongoing product development, and brand awareness,” Hill said.

“We will continue to expand our high performing team, evolve our processes for even greater efficiency, and enhance our technology to fuel our long term growth.”