Williams Sonoma Saw a Surge in Online Sales - Now It's Refocusing Its Efforts on In-store Sales
In the last year, Williams Sonoma saw a surge in its online sales. Despite this, the company has plans to refocus its efforts to bring back in-store sales.
Important Figures
To put the figures from the 2020 fiscal year in perspective, Williams Sonoma had an increase of 45% in online sales. By contrast, in-person sales dropped 24%. Overall, the company saw its best growth in a year in nearly two decades.
Those percentages combine with fourth-quarter figures that were better than had been expected. The unexpected figures led to the company reaching new highs on the stock market. On the day in question, March 18, it rose 18.46% and closed the market at $161.57.
The most recent quarter ended on January 31, and that quarter featured $2.3 billion of revenue. This was the third quarter in a row of year-over-year growth. The quarter before those saw a dip due to the pandemic lockdowns.
What the CEO Says
The information about Williams Sonoma refocusing its efforts on in-store sales comes directly from the CEO, Laura Alber. According to her, the company has no plans to give up on brick-and-mortar businesses.
“Mad Money” recently interviewed her, where she shared some of the company's strategy. According to Alber, e-commerce is an integral part of the company and its growth. At the same time, "retail recovery," or in-store sales, is important to the company's story.
This refers to the fact that the increase in online sales last year managed to make up for its drop in in-store sales.
The Future
According to Alber, "the store traffic's coming back." She is confident that there is an upside in retail at the moment and that the economy will begin to show signs of recovery as it comes back from the pandemic.
This corresponds with what others in the industry are saying or hoping to achieve. Many experts believe that stores and consumers alike will adapt to the new version of reality.
Of course, there will likely be changes to retail. In the immediate future, we can expect Williams Sonoma and other stores to take an abundance of caution, with plexiglass blocking cashiers, limiting the number of people in stores, using hand sanitizer, and requiring face masks. Experts also tend to agree that retailers will need to combine their online shopping with brick-and-mortar shopping in an omnichannel approach to see future success. An example includes the curbside pickup that is already so common in stores.
Sources:
https://www.localfobs.com/williams-sonoma-ceo-eyes-in-store-traffic-foot-traffic-as-economy-reopens/
