Studio Retail Group reports rise in sales

Sales at online retail business Studio Retail Group, have risen by 55% over the past 11 weeks, year on year.

The report suggests that fashion has played only a small role in sales, with particularly strong demand for ranges such as toys, games, electrical, fitness and garden.

The group has seen an increase in the number of active customers, measured on a rolling 12-month basis, to 2 million.

Studio has also reduced the level of marketing spend and focusing the majority of marketing activity since lockdown on digital and TV channels, which has proved effective, with traffic to the Studio website and new app being well ahead of prior year.

Customer repayments have remained strong with requests for forbearance caused by COVID-19 representing less than 4% of the total receivables balances, although the group anticipates that this may worsen later in the year if unemployment levels increase materially.

Phil Maudsley, CEO of SRG, commented: "Studio's multi-year transformation to become a digital value retailer means we have been well-placed to adapt to the current environment.

"The Group's response to the lockdown has been exceptional, not only with our strong trading performance and relevance to customers' needs, but also via our internal agility in responding to the operational challenges presented by COVID-19. I am so proud of all our colleagues.

"The overall market does remain volatile, and we are cautious about the risks to customer incomes for the remainder of the year. However, we have positioned ourselves strongly to manage these risks, and longer-term, we are well-positioned to respond to any permanent shifts in online consumer behaviour."