Online sales provided a bright spot for Kohl’s Corp. in a first quarter that CEO Kevin Mansell says otherwise fell “well below expectations.”
Mansell told analysts on the retail chain’s Q1 2016 earnings call that online sales grew in the mid-teens percentage wise year over year, though he declined to specify further. Kohl’s, No. 19 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide, does not break out online sales in its earnings reports.
He did provide some detail on the role Kohl’s stores are playing in fulfilling online orders. “In the first quarter, ship from store was 15% of our online demand, and buy online, pickup in store was 3%,” he told analysts, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “We believe we have a big opportunity there and we’ll continue to test marketing that option throughout the year to make it top of mind in our customers for the holiday.”
With omnichannel efforts becoming more important, Mansell says Kohl’s plans to invest more money and resources to improve its ability to sync its retail stores with its online stores.
For the first quarter ended April 30, Kohl’s reported:
- Net revenue of $3.972 billion, down 3.7% from $4.123 billion last year.
- A comparable-store sales decline of 3.9%, compared to a 1.4% gain last year.
- Net income of $17 million, down 86.6% from $127 million last year.