J.C. Penney Co. Inc. generated $1.225 billion on the web in its 2014 fiscal year, up 13.4% from $1.080 billion in 2013. JCPenney.com accounted for 10.0% of total sales of $12.257 billion.
The 2014 web sales figure is still below the $1.590 billion the department store retailer posted in 2011, its top year for web sales, however on a percentage basis the web accounts for a greater portion of Penney’s sales now. In 2011, the web accounted for 9.2% of total sales.
E-commerce also accounted for 43% of J.C. Penney’s sales growth in the fourth quarter and 36% for the retailer’s fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31.
This may be the last glimpse J.C. Penney provides into JCPenney.com’s performance. Executives, on a call with investors Thursday said it will no longer report web sales separately from store sales as it pursues an omnichannel sales strategy of tying more closely together its stores and digital assets. Executives say the company will add ship-from-store capabilities for online orders to more stores this spring and will roll out same-day in-store pickup of online orders. The company says it will continue to factor web sales into its comparable-store sales calculation.
Executives said women’s apparel and home goods sold strongly on JCPenney.com in 2014, with home goods accounting for more than 40% of web sales.
For the three months ended Jan. 31, J.C. Penney, No. 37 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, reported:
- E-commerce sales grew 12.3% to $428 million from $381 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
- Total sales increased 2.9% to $3.89 billion from $3.78 billion.
- Comparable-store sales were up 4.4%.
- Net loss was $59 million compared with a net income of $35 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
- The web accounted for 11.0% of total sales in Q4 compared with 10.0% in the prior year.
For the full-year ended Jan. 31, J.C. Penney reported:
- E-commerce sales of $1.225 billion, up 13.4% from $1.080 billion in 2013.
- Total sales of $12.26 billion, up 3.4% from $11.86 billion.
- Comparable-store sales were up 4.4%.
- A net loss of $771 million, down from a net loss of $1.39 billion in 2013.
- The web accounted for 10.0% of total sales in 2014 compared with 9.1% in 2013.