Shutterfly Inc., an online-only retailer of personalized products and photo books, reported a 12% increase in revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with the same quarter a year ago. Growth in Shutterfly brand mobile sales and its business-to-business Shutterfly Business Solutions unit led the growth.
The company’s consumer segment revenue grew 4% to $144.1 million during the quarter, led by the Shutterfly brand, which continues to grow at a double-digit rate, president and CEO Chris North said last week during a conference call with analysts. Growth in the Shutterfly brand, he said, was driven by mobile and by personalized gifts, but was offset by the weaker performance of other brands.
Purchases made on mobile grew at a double-digit rate, representing 24% of overall Shutterfly brand revenue in the quarter, North said. In September, the company launched new Shutterfly mobile apps on iOS and Android. North said improvements in the new versions of the apps include the ability to create and purchase cards and stationary, which is Shutterfly’s largest category by annual revenue. The iOS app also adds a new photo book creation experience that allows users to create a photo book. Both apps also allow customers to automatically upload their photos and to easily create personalized products.
Shutterfly Business Solutions saw its revenue jump by 47%. In the B2B segment, North said: “We were successful in winning follow-along contracts from key clients where our ability to execute on personalized print and digital communications at scale resulted in additional programs and volumes.”
Mike Pope, senior vice president and chief financial officer told the analysts that the company expects full-year net revenues to range from $1.13 billion to $1.160 billion, a year-over-year increase of 6.7% to 9.5%. He expects operating income to range from $45.9 million to $60.6 million, up from a previous forecast of $40.8 million to $55.6 million.
Shutterfly is No. 46 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide.
For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Shutterfly reported:
- Net revenue totaled $187.3 million, a 12% increase compared with $167.5 million in Q3 2015.
- Net revenue for Shutterfly Business Solutions (the company’s B2B operation) totaled $43.2 million, a 47% increase over $29.5 million.
- Operating expenses were $111.4 million compared with $108.6 million.
- Net loss was $29.2 million, compared to a net loss of $63.1 million.
- Orders totaled 5.4 million, an increase of 1% from 5.3 million.
- Average order value was $26.71, up 3% over $25.83.
- Total unique customers grew to 3.2 million, an increase of 1% from 3.1 million.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the retailer reported:
- Net revenue totaled $573.0 million, up from $511.3 million for the year-earlier period.
- Net revenue for Shutterfly Business Solutions was $96.9 million, up from $53.3 million.
- Operating expenses were 341.6 million, up from 335.7 million.
- Net loss was $75.1 million, down from $132.0 million