N Brown sales slow as catalogue group shapes up for digital age
N BROWN sales slowed in the first half as the home shopping group shakes off its image as traditional mail-order business and invests in wooing more online shoppers.
Sales fell 0.6 per cent in the six months to 30 August, dragged down by a 3.2 per cent decline in the second quarter.
Chief executive Angela Spindler said it had been cutting back on leaflets and catalogues through the post and ramping up its digital marketing as it turned itself into a “modern fashion business”.
She added: “We have been a traditional mail-order business that is has been on a journey to become a more multi-channel business.”
Spindler noted that its move away from risky home categories such as electricals that attracted customers with a poor credit history had also hurt sales.
N Brown, which began opening stores in 2011, will open a flagship on Oxford Street today selling its Simply Be and Jacamo brands.