Direct mail cataloger and growing Internet commerce leader HanoverDirect, Weehawken, NJ, announced yesterday that it saw a tenfold increase in its overall e-commerce business last year.
According to Rakesh K. Kaul, president/CEO, the company reported revenues of $163.6 million compared to $171.6 million for the same period last year, a decrease of $8 million, or 4.7 percent. The net loss for the fourth quarter was $13.4 million.
“Consumer demand directly attributed to each of our company's Internet Web sites soared to $8.3 million for the entire year,” Kaul said. “About half of this volume was generated during the fourth quarter, which is to be expected. However, January activity indicates that consumers have embraced shopping our catalogs online, since demand reflecting online transactions continues to accelerate.”
HanoverDirect is repositioning its Austad's, Tweeds and Colonial Garden Kitchens brands as e-commerce brands while revenues for the divisions declined $5.5 million during the same quarter. The company's alliance with Excite is expected to bring additional merchandising opportunities from portals.
“A major component of this strategy is to also carve out a leadership position in the high-growth market niche of providing comprehensive services for those wanting to do business on the Internet.” Kaul added.
In addition to HanoverDirect's growing e-commerce business, the company continues to mail more than 240 million catalogs each year.
