Department store chain Hudson’s Bay Co. is ramping up its digital investments as it prepares to shift its online stores onto the same e-commerce platform.
Hudson’s Bay, No. 81 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, reported this week that online sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 ended July 29 across all its banners were up by 12.7% year over year. Hudson’s Bay Co. brands include its namesake department store chain, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Gilt.com, Saks Off 5th, Galeria Kaufhoff and Galeria Inno.
Through the first half of 2017, online sales for Hudson’s Bay have grown 8.7% year over year. The retailer does not break out an online sales in dollar figures in its quarterly earnings reports.
Having all of the company’s department store banners on the same e-commerce platform will help grow sales, CEO Jerry Storch told analysts on the retailer’s Q2 2017 earnings call Wednesday.
“During the (second) quarter, Lord & Taylor moved onto the same online platform as Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th, while Hudson’s Bay is expected to migrate over in early 2018,” he said, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “Using a combined platform across North America allows us to leverage the same infrastructure across all of our banners, improving our ability to test and implement new features.”
For the fiscal second quarter ended July 29, Hudson’s Bay reported:
- Total sales of C$3.291 billion (US$2.692 billion), up 1.2% from C$3.252 billion ($2.660 billion) during the same time last year.
- A net loss of C$201.0 million ($164.4 million), compared with a net loss of C$142.0 million ($116.2 million).
For the first six months of fiscal 2017, Hudson’s Bay reported:
- Total sales of C$6.494 billion ($5.312 billion), down 0.9% from C$6.555 billion ($5.362 billion) during the same time last year.
- A net loss of C$422.0 million ($345.2 million), compared with a net loss of C$239.0 million ($195.5 million).