A redesigned website led to a 27% increase in online sales during the second quarter for footwear retail chain DSW Inc.
In addition to a 27% year-over-year online sales gain, the site redesign also produced unspecified gains in mobile traffic and conversion, chief financial officer Jared Poff said during DSW’s fiscal second quarter 2017 earnings call Tuesday.
DSW, No. 146 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, does not break out an exact online sales figure in its quarterly earnings reports. Total sales for the quarter ended July 29 increased more than 3% from the year-ago quarter.
50% of the retailer’s overall online sales are fulfilled by one of its 511 store locations, according to a company spokeswoman. DSW CEO Roger Rawlins said the retailer’s 25 million rewards-program members are key drivers of DSW’s online and offline sales growth.
“Other than the roughly 16,000 associates we have in this business, the second-largest asset we have is the data infrastructure on 25 million rewards members,” he said, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “If there is anyone that should be able to read how that customer is reacting, how they are engaging, how they are using digital to influence their brick-and-mortar experience or vice versa, it’s us.”
Rawlins said DSW plans to roll out several changes to the company’s rewards program by early next year with the goal to increase shoppers’ engagement with the brand.
“The new rewards program will be structured to allow customers to earn rewards quicker with compelling incentives to buy more to unlock additional value, and it will offer exciting services like shoe repair and rental,” he said. DSW’s current rewards program, which is free to enroll in, offers shoppers free standard shipping on online orders and 10 points for every dollar spent at DSW.
For the fiscal second quarter ended July 29, DSW reported:
- Net sales of $680.4 million, up 3.3% from $658.9 million during the same time last year.
- A comparable sales gain of 0.6%, compared with a 1.2% decline.
- Net income of $28.6 million, up 14.4% from $25.0 million.
For the first six months of 2017, DSW reported:
- Net sales of $1.372 billion, up 2.4% from $1.340 billion during the same time last year.
- A comparable sales decline of 1.3%, compared with a 1.4% decline.
- Net income of $51.6 million, down 6.2% from $55.0 million.