Online sales are growing while store sales are sliding at athletic apparel and footwear retailer The Finish Line Inc.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2017 ended Aug. 27, Finish Line, No. 135 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide, reported online sales of $75.5 million, up 24.4% from $60.7 million last year. Store sales, meanwhile, slid to $332.3 million, down 1.5% from $337.2 million last year—in part thanks to the retailer shuttering several stores over the past year
It’s been a similar story through the first half of the fiscal year. Finish Line’s online sales were $143.4 million, up 11.7% from $128.4 million in the year-ago period. Store sales slid to $621.3 million, down 1.3% from $629.4 million last year.
Once again, mobile helped drive e-commerce growth during the quarter.
“In Q2, mobile sales were up strong double-digits fueled by a mid-20% increase in conversion,” Finish Line CEO Sam Sato told analysts on the retailer’s earnings call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “Mobile traffic also grew at a rapid pace and now makes up over two-thirds of our total digital visits.”
In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the retailer said it plans to invest up to $15 million to upgrade its online store and improve its information security. Sato said the retail chain intends to unveil a redesigned e-commerce site in the second half of the fiscal year. The site will feature responsive design so that it renders properly, based on a consumer’s device, and the retailer will also upgrade its mobile app.
The site and app improvements include “enhanced engagement capabilities that allow for greater discovery and personalization features such as live videos, exclusive assets, personalized recommendations and more,” Sato said.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2017 ended Aug. 27, Finish Line reported:
- Net sales of $509.4 million, up 5.4% from $483.2 million in fiscal Q2 2016.
- E-commerce accounts for 14.8% of overall sales compared with 12.6%.
- A digital comparable-sales increase of 24.4%, compared with a 12.1% increase. Finish Line defines digital comparable sales as “the change in sales year-over-year for the reporting period derived from finishline.com and m.finishline.com”.
- Same-store sales increase, including e-commerce, of 5.1%, compared with a 1.5% increase.
- Net income of $22.1 million, down 14.7% from $25.9 million.
For the first six months of fiscal 2017, Finish Line reported:
- Net sales of $962.9 million, up 3.9% from $926.5 million last year.
- E-commerce accounts for 14.9% of overall sales, compared with 13.9%.
- A digital comparable-sales increase of 11.7%, compared with a 23.3% increase.
- Same-store sales, including e-commerce, increase of 3.4%, which was the same as its 3.4% increase a year earlier.
- Net income of $31.7 million, down 20.2% from $39.7 million.