Subsequent has mentioned worldwide tastes in trend are “converging” as tech platforms expose customers to worldwide tendencies, boosting the retailer’s abroad gross sales and serving to it shut in on £1bn in annual earnings for the primary time.
The style and homewares retailer forecast that its annual earnings could be £15m greater than beforehand anticipated, at £995m, after abroad gross sales rose 23% within the six months to July, offsetting a close to 1% decline in gross sales of Subsequent-branded clothes within the UK.
The corporate mentioned that the “international attain” of tech platforms together with Netflix, YouTube and TikTok had been “exposing individuals to worldwide trend tendencies in a manner they by no means have been earlier than”, and bettering worldwide supply networks had been additionally encouraging “customers to attempt garments from different nations, and retailers to adapt their ranges that cater for abroad tastes”.
“It seems that worldwide tastes in clothes are converging extra quickly. This convergence is just not uniform and is extra pronounced in some territories than others,” the retailer mentioned, including that there stays a “marked distinction between totally different cultures and climates”.
Simon Wolfson, the chief govt of Subsequent, mentioned the enterprise was “in the beginning of a brand new section” with greater than half of its gross sales and earnings now on-line and speedy progress in gross sales of non-Subsequent manufacturers, a few of which the group now owns.
Non-Subsequent manufacturers now account for 17% of abroad gross sales and the group mentioned it had been experimenting with increasing wholly owned labels together with Cath Kidston, after it purchased the model identify out of administration final 12 months, and Love & Roses.
The group has signed a partnership deal in India with the native operator Myntra to develop on-line and retail shops and can broaden a cope with the US division retailer chain Nordstrum, the place it’s now promoting childrenswear, and likewise expects to seek out comparable companions in Japan, China and Australia.
Subsequent additionally plans to enhance the way in which it really works with cargo hubs within the Center East and Europe to assist higher serve customers in these territories.
The plans had been introduced as Subsequent revealed that full-price gross sales rose 4.4% within the six-month interval, boosting whole group gross sales by 8% and pre-tax revenue by 7.2% to £452m.
Subsequent mentioned that full value gross sales over the six weeks after that interval had “materially exceeded our expectations” and had been up 6.9% as higher climate helped enhance commerce.
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Gross sales within the second half of the 12 months are actually anticipated to rise by 3.7%, up from 2.5%.
If Subsequent had been to hit £1bn of earnings for the primary time, it could be a part of solely a handful of UK retailers which have finished so together with Tesco – and Marks & Spencer in a earlier period. The improve to its revenue expectations lifted Subsequent’s shares 5.5% to an all-time excessive of £109.10.
