Web site relaunch lifts Virgin revenue
Comparable store sales jump 11%
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/7/2008
APRIL 7 | Virgin Megastores credited its recent Web site makeover for revenue gains in 2007.
In comparable store sales, Virgin management said the chain climbed 11.5% nationwide. In the New York market, where Virgin operates its Times Square and Union Square outlets, the retailer is up 10%.
Other key Virgin locations posted comparable store double-digit growth, including 24% and 21% jumps at the chain’s Orlando and Hollywood, Calif., Megastores, respectively.
Among hot product categories at Virgin are DVD, with sales up 13.9%; fashion, up 35.5%; videogames, up 93.9%; and books, up 19%.
These surges coincide with Virgin deciding to supervise the operation of its Web site, whose operation and design was previously managed by Amazon.com. Virgin wanted to revamp its Web site to better match the lifestyle merchandising strategies of its in-store scheme.
Virgin is making improvements during a time of overall retail consolidation. The chain itself shuttered three outlets in the last 12 months.
“We know that a large portion of our core customers spend a significant amount of time online,” said Dee McLaughlin, VP of marketing at the Virgin Entertainment Group North America. “We relaunched our e-commerce site, www.virginmega.com, where we offer a deeper catalog of music, fashion items, games, DVDs and electronics than ever before.”
Virgin CEO Simon Wright added, “This is our second consecutive year that has produced sales that have exceeded our expectations. We attribute this success to a shift in our product offering, an increase in our marketing strategy and a new focus on e-commerce.”
