Williams-Sonoma Direct Sales Rise, Catalog Circulation to Follow
Williams-Sonoma Inc. reported yesterday that net retail sales in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 totaled $680 million, a 9 percent gain over the previous year. Comparable-store sales rose 1.5 percent in the quarter.The San Francisco-based multichannel marketer of home furnishings also said that during the fourth quarter all of its brands delivered positive growth in the direct-to-consumer channel, which consists of catalog and Internet sales. Combined catalog and Internet sales increased 7 percent to $345 million. Internet sales jumped 26 percent to $153 million, which includes the incremental net sales generated by the November launch of a Hold Everything Web site.
Williams-Sonoma's net retail sales for fiscal 2004 totaled $1.8 billion, up 12 percent from the previous year. Same-store sales rose 3.5 percent for the year.
Annual sales jumped 17.5 percent in the DTC channel to $1.1 billion. Except for the Chambers brand, which was discontinued in the second quarter of 2004, all of the company's brands delivered positive growth for the year.
Also, Internet sales skyrocketed 43 percent in fiscal 2004 to $477.5 million.
Williams-Sonoma also said it would increase catalog circulation in 2005 by 5 percent to 7 percent and pages circulated by 11 percent to 13 percent.
Chantal Todé covers catalog and retail news and BTB marketing for DM News and DM News.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
