With a strong start to the current 2021/22¹ fiscal year, bonprix is successfully continuing its ambitious growth course. The international fashion company ends the first half of the fiscal year1 with a very good double-digit increase in sales of 17 percent compared to the previous year and, for the first time in the company's history, already achieves sales of just over 1 billion euros by this reporting date (August 31, 2021).
Domestic business is growing particularly well, with growth rates of around 20 percent year-on-year, both in terms of sales and the number of new customers. Assuming the company develops as planned in the coming months, bonprix also expects a clear double-digit increase in sales for the full 2021/22 fiscal year².
The positive upward trend that had already become apparent at the end of the previous fiscal year is continuing in the current one. “We started the half-year extremely strongly, then in the second quarter sales growth consolidated slightly against the backdrop of an aggressively priced stationary market environment. Last year's pandemic-related boost of digitization gave us yet another opportunity as an online fashion retailer to demonstrate our product range and service expertise. We succeeded outstandingly in doing so in many of our markets,” says Dr. Kai Heck, Managing Director and responsible for finances at bonprix, commenting on the good performance in the first half of the fiscal year.
Dynamic international development
Accordingly, an analysis of bonprix's international markets reveals a very solid picture. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, as well as the Netherlands and Norway are showing particularly strong growth rates, in some cases well in excess of 20 percent. The major markets such as France, Poland and Italy also achieved good sales growth in the upper single- to double-digit range.
While growth in Russia continues to be impacted by the ruble exchange rate and a difficult market environment overall, in the USA, bonprix has achieved a turnaround with its swimwear brand VENUS. The key factors behind this success were a focused marketing and sales strategy and investments in customer service and logistics. This enabled the company to make the most of positive market opportunities and achieve sales growth of almost 30 percent.
Germany, the home and core market of the vertical fashion provider, developed very positively, with sales up by around 20 percent compared to the previous year. In particular, the company succeeded in significantly increasing the number of new customers.
Focus on growth of product range and sustainability
On the product range side, bonprix's flexible product range management resulted in sustained growth in almost all collections. Casual wear continued to be in particularly high demand. In the case of dresses, a key segment for bonprix, the effects of the Corona pandemic still led to a slight reluctance to buy in recent months. Here, the fashion company sees great potential for the coming months, as the life situation of many consumers is changing again and demand is growing for occasion-related fashion, for example. The large underwear range, which is recording positive growth and is currently being marketed with a broad-based national media campaign, continues to be highly relevant.
Sustainable styles are playing an increasingly central role in bonprix's overall product range. With its new CR strategy “positive choice”, the company successfully set the course for its new ambitious goal in May of this year: By 2030, bonprix wants to offer only sustainable products, be able to transparently disclose the supply chain all the way to fiber production, and operate as a climate-neutral company. One of the milestones on this path is to be the use of 70 percent sustainable materials in the overall assortment by 2025. With a share of a strong 80 percent already in this fall-winter collection 2021, this own target is now even significantly exceeded.
Dynamic international development
Accordingly, an analysis of bonprix's international markets reveals a very solid picture. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, as well as the Netherlands and Norway, are showing particularly strong growth rates, in some cases well in excess of 20 percent. The major markets such as France, Poland and Italy also achieved good sales growth in the upper single- to double-digit range.
While growth in Russia continues to be impacted by the ruble exchange rate and a difficult market environment overall, bonprix has achieved a turnaround with its swimwear brand VENUS in the USA. The key factors behind this success were a focused marketing and sales strategy and investments in customer service and logistics. This enabled the company to make the most of positive market opportunities and achieve sales growth of almost 30 percent.
Germany, the home and core market of the vertical fashion provider, developed very positively, with sales up by around 20 percent on the previous year. In particular, the company succeeded in significantly increasing the share of new customers.
Focus on product range growth and sustainability
On the product range side, bonprix's flexible product range management resulted in sustained growth in almost all collections. Casual wear continued to be in particularly high demand. In the case of dresses, a key segment for bonprix, the effects of the Corona pandemic still led to a slight reluctance to buy in recent months. Here, the fashion company sees great potential for the coming months, as the life situation of many consumers is changing again and demand is growing for occasion-related fashion, for example. The large underwear range, which is recording positive growth and is currently being marketed with a broad-based national media campaign, continues to be highly relevant.
Sustainable styles are playing an increasingly central role in bonprix's overall product range. With its new CR strategy “positive choice”, the company successfully set the course for its new ambitious goal in May of this year: By 2030, bonprix wants to offer only sustainable products, be able to transparently disclose the supply chain all the way to fiber production, and operate as a climate-neutral company. One of the milestones on this path is to raise the use to 70 percent sustainable materials in the overall assortment by 2025. With a share of a strong 80 percent already in this fall-winter collection 2021, this own target is now even significantly exceeded.
Strong investment in customer loyalty
bonprix continues to focus on retaining existing customers and attracting new ones. The company is therefore investing heavily in attention-grabbing and sales-enhancing measures. In particular, the bonprix app, with its high degree of personalization and user-oriented features, is increasingly taking center stage. It is also being promoted as a central touchpoint of the customer journey through cross-border app installation campaigns.
Optimistic outlook for the second half of the fiscal year 2021/22
The very good conclusion to the first half of the fiscal year, with the milestone of 1 billion euros in sales and a continued positive development in returns, gives bonprix an important tailwind for the coming months. This allows Dr. Richard Gottwald, Chairman of the Management Board and also responsible for international sales, to look positively into the future: “The international market situation remains volatile. In many countries, we continue to feel the positive effects of digitization, while in others we are seeing a slowdown in the momentum of online retailing. We will take these developments on board and set our own market accents with a strong product range and investments in customer loyalty. Against this backdrop, I am confident that the second half of the fiscal year will also be positive and that we will successfully conclude the year as a whole with significant, double-digit sales growth.”
¹ Fiscal year March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022
² Fiscal half year March 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021
