Creative Cornish clothing brand, Seasalt, is pleased to release a Christmas trading update for the five-week period to 28th December 2024. Total sales across online, stores, marketplace partners and wholesale increased by an impressive 10% versus the same period last year, with every channel setting new records for the Christmas period.
Online sales were strong throughout the Christmas season and came in at 6% above last year’s figure, another record-breaking result for Seasalt. Stores enjoyed a third consecutive Christmas of record sales too, with customers continuing to visit bricks and mortar stores to experience the Seasalt brand in person and interact without standing store staff. Overall, store revenues were up 3% compared with the same period in 2023. This is particularly noteworthy in light of decreases in high street footfall reported across the country during the festive season.
Seasalt has also continued to build on important relationships with marketplace partners both in the UK and Internationally, including M&S, Next, Zalando and Nordstrom, and these have all gone from strength to strength in 2024, resulting in a particularly noteworthy Christmas performance, with sales up 46% on the prior period. These partners form a core part of Seasalt’s International expansion strategy which drove impressive performance with international markets representing 10% of sales during the period.
Jon Lewis, Chief Trading Officer, Seasalt Cornwall said:“We are very pleased to see all of our main sales channels perform so well over the festive season, with healthy year -on-year growth across all three. DuringtheBlackFridaytradingperiodwereportedourmostsuccessfuldayeveronline.The
big product category winner for us was Knitwear, our customers were resoundingly positive about the collection and that was evidenced through very strong sales in the run up to Christmas. Our trading results reflect our customers’ reaction both to our full-price product ranges and our Black Friday and end-of-season sales promotions.”
Financial results for the year ended January 2024 and expectations for February 2025
Despite a challenging trading environment, Seasalt continued to enjoy strong revenue growth throughout 2024 and currently expects to achieve another year of double-digit percentage revenue growth for the year ending 1st February 2025. Growth year-to-date has been founded in strong growth across all channels, both in the UK and internationally. Year-to-date International markets have represented 12% of sales, and international expansion accelerated with the opening of the first bricks and mortar US Seasalt store in Falmouth MA last September. Autumn 2024 also saw Seasalt embark on a partnership with Nordstrom in the US, both online and in a select number of physical stores.
Paul Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, Seasalt Cornwall said: “Sales have been strong across the year and throughout the key festive trading weeks in 2024, building on our previous success, in spite of the current economic environment and decline in high street footfall seen across the UK. Here at Seasalt, like all retailers, we anticipate significant cost pressure in the upcoming months, particularly with the impact of the Chancellor’s Autumn budget statement, necessitating a heightened focus on cost management in order to drive profitable growth. We will also continue to progress our expansion strategy for 2025, including our store opening programme, both in the UK and the US, and develop our strategic partnerships, putting us in the best possible position to realise our growth ambitions for the year ahead.”
