Next posts better than expected second quarter sales
Next’s full price sales came in 4.7% stronger than expected in its second quarter as more people returned to buying formalwear for summer events.
The fashion and homeware retailer’s total full price sales increased by 5% in the three months to 30 July.
Next said the performance was due in part to unusually warm and dry weather and a marked return to formal dressing driven by pent up demand for social events.
It also revealed that many product trends returned to pre-pandemic norms and that online returns rates and surplus stock reverted to pre-lockdown levels.
Meanwhile sales at Next’s retail stores rose by 12% in the period, although growth online was only 0.2%.
Next said: “At first sight, our full price sales performance against last year suggests that growth online has ground to a halt and that retail is having something of a renaissance. This is certainly the case on a one year basis. But we think that these changes reflect a short term reversal of pandemic trends, and are unlikely to be indicative of longer term trends in consumer behaviour.”
