Burberry salutes ‘targeted marketing’ for 12% sales hike

The luxury fashion designer said the like-for-like increase for the three months to June was driven by double-digit growth in Asia Pacific and the Americas. Europe, Middle East, India and Africa also contributed to the rise with low digit sales growth.

The momentum lifted total revenue to £370m, a 17 per cent increase on the same period last year. Burberry said the performance was underlined by increased conversion both offline and online, particularly through orders taken on iPads in-store and collect-in-store, alongside its ability to deliver more relevant content to consumers.

New customer tools are to be introduced to marketing in the coming months to drive better quality web traffic. Additionally, the business said it needs get better at “negotiating” with other third party retailers such as Amazon in order to boost the reach of the brand.

Investment in mobile is set to support the plan with the business citing the channel’s significance in blurring the lines between ecommerce and bricks-and-mortar stores. The company will relaunch its mobile site later this year to address what it says is “high-traffic but low conversion”. It is also developing a dedicated ecommerce offering for key market China with sales for the region currently handled in the UK.

Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer and chief executive of Burberry, who took over from Angela Ahrendts in May, said its priority remains to “connect consumers closer to Burberry through authentic products and experiences that celebrate our unique heritage”. An “intent focus” on delivering improved conversion rates in stores and online will underline the plan, the company added.

Last month, the company launched a global advertising campaign featuring models Cara Delevingne and Suki Waterhouse to showcase its autumn/winter 2014 range.