Card Factory has suffered a fall in sales but said revenues raked in from its stores since reopening after lockdown have exceeded its expectations.
The greetings card and gifting specialist said like-for-like sales since reopening were down 22% year on year. That compared with a forecast drop of 50% during the first month of reopening.
Card Factory said that while the number of transactions made through its shops had fallen compared with 2019 levels, average spend had jumped 25%.
The groupâs online sales have also soared amid the coronavirus pandemic. Like for likes through its Cardfactory.co.uk and Gettingpersonal.co.uk websites are up a combined 69% in its financial year to date.
During the period its stores were closed, from March 23 until June 14, Card Factoryâs ecommerce like for likes more than doubled, rocketing 121%.
Across the first half of its financial year, covering the six months to July 31, Card Factory said it expects revenue to come in at around ÂŁ100m. That would represent a 49% slump on last yearâs ÂŁ196m.
Card Factory said it was âpleasedâ with that performance, but cautioned it was âfar too soon to determine whether initial trading reflects the release of pent-up demandâ. It said it could therefore not predict the levels at which footfall and sales would settle.
The retailerâs trading update comes ahead of a Capital Markets Day this afternoon, at which it will unveil full details of its new strategy and financial targets.
By 2025, Card Factory wants to achieve annual sales of ÂŁ635m and an underlying pre-tax profit of ÂŁ105m.
The retailer also plans to increase the number of customer touchpoints it has within the UK and overseas to 5,600 â including 1,100 company-operated stores â and grow its share of the UK greetings card market to 45%.
Card Factory executive chair Paul Moody will lead the Capital Markets Day, following the sudden departure of former boss Karen Hubbard at the end of June.
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