Another rare winner from the COVID-19 crisis was confirmed yesterday – The Shaver Shop said it saw a massive 387% boost in online sales since the start of April, sending shares soaring 36%.
In a trading update yesterday, Shaver Shop said the surge in online sales helped boost total sales since the start of April by 32.1%, despite the company’s in-store foot traffic halving.
Online trade made up almost half of all revenue in the last six weeks, according to yesterday’s statement.
Like-for-like sales were up 44.1% since April.
The improvement for the company since late March has been dramatic.
In its March 24 update (when it dropped its 2020 guidance) the company was gloomy, pointing to a slide in sales the previous week as the COVID-19 related lockdowns started having an impact.
“However, over the past week, Shaver Shop has observed a material deterioration in trading conditions, reflected in a decrease in total like for like sales (including online sales) of approximately -11%. The rate of decline in like for like sales in our bricks and mortar stores was -23% (excluding online sales).
“Our online channel is performing better, but the growth in this channel is not enough to offset the decline in sales observed in our bricks and mortar stores in recent weeks,“ the company said.
That saw Shaver Shop temporarily close 11 of its 110 Australian corporate stores in late March and early April and closed all 7 New Zealand stores in accordance with government directives.
These 11 Australian stores remain closed. 3 of the New Zealand stores re-opened in late April to process online orders following the move to alert level 3.
Shaver Shop said it has taken steps to redeploy as many full time and part-time staff from these stores as possible.
“Decisions regarding the re-opening of those stores still closed will be made in due course based on health and safety considerations and other commercial matters specific to each location.
“Having regard to the increasing proportion of online sales and the success of our Omni-retail strategies, Shaver Shop will continue to evaluate the size and composition of its store network as retailers and landlords adjust to accelerated changes in customer shopping preferences,” the company said in yesterday’s update.
But the uncertainty of late March has been replaced by an uplift in confidence as customers who would normally get their hair cut at hairdressers and barbers, went in a different direction towards doing it your self.
CEO Cameron Fox said in yesterday’s statement:
“Our investment in building our digital sales and fulfilment capabilities over recent years has proven invaluable over the last six weeks. I am delighted by the way our business has been able to quickly adapt to service the increased demand for DIY personal care products and accommodate the channel shift to transacting online,” he said.
Despite the sales surge, Shaver Shop said it continues to withhold forward guidance.
Shares were up 30% to 56 cents at the close.
