High traffic and sales on the day after Thanksgiving spurred a 22.4% increase in web sales for the quarter.

Record digital sales growth for TV, mobile and web retailer HSN helped fuel a strong fourth quarter for parent company HSN Inc.

The retailer, No.  26 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, said in its Q4 2014 earnings report that online sales were up 22.4% year over year for HSN for the quarter, to $337.05 million in the fourth quarter from $275.47 million in the year-ago period. That year-over-year growth in online sales was the best in company history, HSN Inc. said.

CEO Mindy Grossman told analysts on HSN Inc.’s fourth-quarter earnings call that a strong performance on the day after Thanksgiving was a major factor in that growth, according to a transcript of the call obtained from Seeking Alpha.

“Black Friday was the biggest sales day in HSN digital history,” she said. “We also had our highest-ever digital traffic. During the Thanksgiving weekend, nearly a quarter of our total sales came through a mobile device with record-breaking digital penetration.”

Analysts attributed the spike in business to a strong performance in consumer electronics. Grossman acknowledged that on the call, but also said the retailer simply had more products available to shoppers online. “We expanded our curated product assortment that included a stronger cadence of digital-only offerings and more strategic use of paid search,” she said.

advertisement

For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, HSN Inc. reported:

  • Overall net sales of $1.118 billion, up 9.6% from $1.020 billion during the same period in 2013.
  • Net sales for HSN of $796.8 million, up 14.3% from $697.4 million during the prior-year period.
  • Net sales for its Cornerstone Brands segment, which includes children’s apparel retailer Chasing Fireflies and home furnishings retailer Garnet Hill, were $321.1 million, down 0.4% from $322.4 million during the same period in 2013.
  • E-commerce sales for Cornerstone Brands of $224.77 million, up 0.6% from $223.42 million during Q4 2013.

For the year ending Dec. 31, 2014, HSN Inc. reported:

  • Net sales of $3.588 billion, up 5.4% from $3.404 billion in 2013.
  • E-commerce sales of $1.722 billion, up 8.8% from $1.583 billion the prior year.
  • HSN e-commerce sales of $975.58 million, up 14.0% from $855.44 million in 2013.
  • Cornerstone Brands e-commerce sales of $755.97 million, up 8.2% from $698.62 million in 2013. 
Favorite