Myer Holdings Limited has announced its FY2016 results, with total sales up 2.9 per cent and a net profit of $69.3 million in line with guidance.
The results come a year after the retailer launched its ‘New Myer’ strategy, a five year plan that aims to revitalise the brand by delivering an inspiring retail offer with increased productivity.
“There is no doubt that as a result of our strategy, Myer is a measurably stronger business today than it was a year ago,” says Myer CEO and managing director, Richard Umbers. “Our early progress shows Myer in a new light, where the focus on customers, brands, service, efficiency and productivity is evident in our results.”
Improving its omni-channel offering was a key element of the New Myer strategy when it launched last year, with the focus on improving customer experience, increasing click and collect as a proportion of online sales, reducing fulfilment cost per order by approximately 35 per cent, and making the supply chain more efficient.
This has been successful thus far, says Umbers, with omni-channel sales increasing by 74 per cent and profit growing at a faster rate than sales. Productivity improvements in order fulfilment have reduced omni-channel CODB by 25 per cent, and click and collect now represents 9 per cent of Myer’s omni-channel sales.
Myer says its customers are increasingly shopping online, with over 60 million visits to the retailer’s website, which has seen a 33 per cent improvement in conversion thanks to an improved pathway to purchase. New categories and concessions have also launched online to broaden the range.
The growth in omni-channel profit has also been driven by improvements in customer experience, which has increased conversion rates, The introduction of technology like the new shoe finder app has enhanced the in store experience, and sales via the 2,500 iPads in store have increased by 117 per cent.
The recently refurbished Werribee store’s Myer Hub is a good example of the retailer’s commitment to omni-channel, combining click and collect, shop and drop, free Wi-Fi and a gift registry in the one location.
For FY2017, Umbers says the retailer will be focused on redeveloping existing stores—including Melbourne, Sydney, Maroochydore, Eastland, Doncaster, Chatswood and Pacific Fair—as well as the opening of its new store at Warringah in November 2016, which will be the first physical example of the New Myer strategy.
“The first year of the New Myer strategy demonstrates the complexity of our journey,” says Umbers. “We still have a long way to go but we are moving in the right direction. In the first 12 months we have made a number of critical investments to build a solid foundation from which we will continue to execute the strategy.”