The multichannel bookseller says it has “significant work to do” to improve sales on BN.com.

The web was no help to Barnes & Noble Inc.’s top line during its fiscal third quarter, as the merchant reported this week declines in retail sales driven by store closures and lower online revenue.

Barnes & Noble does not break out e-commerce sales figures on a quarterly basis, but chief financial officer Allen Lindstrom told analysts on a conference call that online sales declined 12.5% during the quarter—an improvement compared with a 22% year-over-year decline in Q2.

Still, the merchant is focused on improving its mobile and desktop shopping experience and says it has “significant work to do” to improve sales at BN.com.

“We have undertaken major projects to improve the user experience, including a redesign of the front end, improving SEO by reengineering certain elements of the site, and improving BN.com’s search tool so that it’s more relevant and intuitive to the customer’s query,” CEO Ron Boire told analysts on the call, according to a transcript from SeekingAlpha.

Barnes & Noble, No. 47 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, also is making a push to better serve mobile shoppers, as more than half of its traffic comes from mobile devices. Among those initiatives are plans to consolidate multiple Barnes & Noble mobile apps into a single app.

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For the fiscal third quarter ended Jan. 30, Barnes & Noble reported:

  • Retail sales, which include e-commerce fell 1.2% to  $1.379 billion from $1.396 billion in the prior-year quarter.
  • Nook sales declined 33.3% to $51.7 million from $77.5 million.
  • Total sales declined 1.9% to  $1.413 billion from $1.440 billion.
  • Comparable-store sales increased 0.2% for the quarter. 
  • Net income was up 11.2% to $80.3 million, from $72.2 million.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, Barnes & Noble also reported:

  • Retail sales of $3.18 billion, down 1.9% from $3.24 billion in the first three quarters of last year.
  • Nook sales of $149.6 million, a 29.2% drop from $211.4 million.
  • Total sales of $3.29 billion, down 2.9% from $3.39 billion.
  • Net income of $6.2 million compared with $56.0 million last year.
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