E-commerce grew by 26% year over year for Estee Lauder in Q1 2016.

Online gains gave cosmetics giant Estee Lauder a strong start to its new fiscal year.

Online sales at the manufacturer, No. 73 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide,  grew 26% year over year during the first quarter of fiscal 2016 and now account for 8% of overall sales. Estee Lauder does not break out online sales, but based on net revenue of $2.84 billion, that would mean the company generated $226.8 million in online sales during the quarter.

Helping fuel that growth has been the shift in consumer shopping behavior from desktop to mobile. CEO Fabrizio Freda told analysts on the company’s earnings call that mobile accounts for more than a third of Estee Lauder’s overall e-commerce business.

Heading into Q2, he says international online growth remains a key area of focus for the company, particularly in China.

“We continue to expand our online availability and opened 100 new digital brand locations globally, mainly in international markets, on both our sites and retailer sites,” he said on the call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “For example, in China, Tmall continues to be a strong contributor to our online sales, and Bobbi Brown launched on the platform in September, bringing the number of brands we sell on Tmall to five.”

advertisement

For the first quarter ended Sept. 30, Estee Lauder reported:

  • Net revenue of $2.84 billion, up 8.0% from $2.63 billion during the same time last year.
  • Revenue in the Americas region of $1.27 billion, up 13.4% from $1.12 billion.
  • A net profit of $310.8 million compared with $229.2 million.
Favorite