Signet Sees 3.6% Increase in Same Store Sales

(IDEX Online News) – Signet Jewelers Limited, the largest specialty retail jeweler in the US, UK and Canada, today (Thursday) announced that same store sales for the holiday season increased 3.6 percent across its Sterling Jewelers, Zale and UK divisions.

The UK performed especially strongly, with a 9.7-percent increase in same store sales, which the company said was its best in 12 years.

“Our company performed well during the holiday period delivering increased same store sales across all divisions driven by the continued successful execution of our product, marketing and omni-channel strategies,” said CEO Mark Light. “This is particularly pleasing given the amount of change we have dealt with during the course of the fiscal year.”

Light said the company resisted deep promotions and protected profitability.

In the Sterling Jewelers division, branded bridal and select diamond fashion jewelry collections performed well. The company said, however, that these increases were partially offset by softness in the sale of lower-price-point fashion jewelry collections.

The Zale division results were driven primarily by incremental investments in marketing, branded merchandise and strength in Canada. Diamond collections in bridal and fashion performed particularly well.

In the UK, sales increased due to growth in diamonds including branded bridal.  Other drivers included beads, watches and the growing popularity of Black Friday-style shopping.

Ecommerce sales increased 90.9 percent, and, excluding the Zale division, increased 20 percent.  As a percent of Signet's holiday season's total sales, ecommerce increased 160 basis points. “Each division delivered higher ecommerce growth and penetration relative to total sales,” the company announced.