Cornish fashion brand Seasalt has is predicting turnover to hit £100m after online sales jumped and helped make up for lost revenue when the Covid pandemic forced stores to close.
The fast-growing Cornish lifestyle brand said online sales had grown significantly above expectations and store sales had rebounded strongly after reopening was allowed.
Annual sales are approaching £100m already for the financial year ending January 29, 2022, with strong momentum across all channels, the Falmouth-headquartered company said.
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This is after online sales increased by 72% in the year ended January 30, 2021, compared with the year ended February 1, 2020, reflecting the strength of Seasalt’s digital transformation programme and its innovative marketing strategy. Sales through digital channels accounted for 67% of total revenue over the period and continue to represent the majority of revenue.
Temporary shop closures enforced by Covid-19 throughout 2020 and in early 2021 caused Seasalt’s store sales to decline by 57%. Since reopening, the stores have recovered more quickly than expected and continue to trade ahead of expectations, the company said.
The stores remain core to Seasalt’s customer experience proposition and are proven to drive sales across all channels, bosses stressed.
Total sales in the year ended January 30, 2021, were £69.9m, down 7% on the previous year. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), a measure of profitability, in the same period was £6.6m, an increase of 50% year-on-year as the business focused on profit improvement and a full-price trading strategy.
In the current financial year Seasalt has expanded its work with strategic partners including Next, Zalando and Amazon US. The brand launched online with M&S in April 2021 and in M&S stores from June 2021.
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Seasalt has invested more than £2.5m in new technology in the past 18 months, including new 海角视频 and international websites and industry-leading software that allows online orders to be fulfilled in stores.
The investment in technology, along with innovative marketing and Seasalt’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, has contributed to record levels of customer acquisition in the current financial year.
Paul Hayes, Seasalt chief executive, said: “Our outstanding results in the face of extremely difficult circumstances reflect the hard work of our teams across the business and the support of the wider Seasalt community. We have seen the benefits of our digital transformation and can now genuinely call ourselves a digital-first brand.
“The excellent performance of our stores since they re-opened and growth with our strategic partners point to a bright future and demonstrate the resilience of the business.
“As we move towards Christmas, it is an exciting time for Seasalt as we continue to experience record levels of engagement with our customers and look forward to building further momentum through the rest of the year.”
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The company, renowned for its printed dresses inspired by Cornish artists and designers, stems from a single shop opened in Penzance by the Chadwick family in 1981. That was when Don Chadwick moved from the Midlands and bought the outlet near the seafront in the Cornish port. His sons Neil, Leigh and David later took control, launching Seasalt as a retail company in 2004.
Seasalt’s Cornwall-inspired designs - such as the Plant Hunter Coat and Larissa Organic Cotton Shirt - are sold online in 156 countries, in 69 stores across the 海角视频 and Ireland and via strategic brand partnerships such as M&S, Next and Zalando. The business, which is still owned by the Chadwick family, is one of Cornwall’s biggest employers and prides itself on the ability to adapt, attract the best new talent and invest in transformative digital technology.
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