N Brown trading woes continue, looks to tech investment for improvements

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jun 15, 2023

Trading conditions continue to be tough for digital retail fashion group N Brown Group as the struggles endured last financial year look to be repeating themselves, for now.

Although its performance in Q1 was “in line with expectations”, the owner of the Simply Be, JD Williams and Jacamo brands said Thursday that the softer revenue trends that plagued FY23 had continued. But at least the trend "has seen some improvement across the quarters”.

The group said it’s banking on “continued investment in transformational priorities” to help cheer up its performance across the coming months. This includes moving towards full rollout of a new mobile-first website for Jacamo, following the successful launch of the new Simply Be platform.

And as part of “a rebalancing of media investment across the group towards driving brand awareness and performance”, Jacamo has also launched a new partnership with LADbible “to create engaging video content and wider campaigns focused on passions and skills”, with every featured look shoppable at Jacamo online.

Group revenue for the 13 weeks ended 3 June was down 9.9% to £148.7 million. By category, product revenue fell 11.9% to £93.6 million; Strategic Brands were down 7.8% to £69.3 million; Heritage Brands plummeted 21.9% to £24.3 million; and Financial Services revenues dipped 6.3% to £55.1 million.

The softer product revenue seen in Q1 was “reflecting poor early spring weather and low consumer confidence”, it noted. 

“The impact of these factors on volumes has been partially offset by higher average item values, and we saw an improving product revenue trend across the quarter”, it also said.

CEO Steve Johnson added: “We have started the year with an elevated focus on the transformational priorities which will deliver the biggest benefits. We are pleased with the progress we are making including moving towards the full rollout to customers of the new Jacamo website.

“As flagged in our FY23 Preliminary results, we expect weak consumer confidence to continue through FY24 and are therefore taking a disciplined approach to managing costs and driving margin improvements whilst we invest in the business for medium-term growth. We remain confident in the strategy, and expect to continue to deliver progress across each of our strategic pillars this year.”