Online Sales Bounce Back

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In its most recent weekly e-commerce sales report, researchers at performance branding company Within said the latest data revealed some upward momentum as retailers and brands adjusted to the macroeconomic impact of the coronavirus.

The firm also shared a real-time case study of an omnichannel food and beverage client which closed all of its stores, but was able to drive online sales.

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With apparel, brands saw online sales bounce back after steep declines compared to the pre-Covid-19 benchmark levels. Fashion brands made “a bull run” as they headed into this weekend, Within said, “with revenue up from negative 63 percent to negative 43 percent on the back of the several brands launching new promotions.”

With pure-play e-commerce brands, the declines also remained in negative territory, but rebounded from negative 58 percent to negative 52 percent. And revenue for omnichannel brands rebounded “from negative 45 percent to negative 32 percent on the back of new promotions,” authors of the report said.

With luxury brands, Within said they “seem to have found their floor between negative 30 percent and negative 40 percent, down 37 percent” as of this past Friday.

Regarding Within’s food and beverage client, which the company did not name, more than 70 physical stores were closed last week. “While it’s to be expected that — even for stores that don’t close — brick-and-mortar revenue would go down, this omnichannel client has made excellent use of their e-commerce business,” authors of the report noted adding that the company is now “focused on the goals of pushing bulk orders and subscriptions.”

The client switched to free shipping and also rolled out “a buy 3 get 1 free” promotion “that has boosted sales incredibly, beating the revenue and conversion rates of their Black Friday/Cyber Monday periods.”

Within said that compared to the pre-Covid-19 benchmark period (in January), the client was about to increase e-commerce conversions by 163 percent and revenue by 48 percent. The retailer also experienced a 77 percent gain in “unique purchases.”

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