Full-price strategy pays off for Jigsaw at Christmas

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 3, 2017

UK fashion retailer Jigsaw held out against discount fever in the pre-Christmas period and it seems to have paid off as the chain reported sales up 10% in the five weeks to New year’s Eve.

The company made a conscious decision not to discount during the holiday season, including the Black Friday period, and kept to its full-price strategy until closing time on December 24.

Announcing the strong festive results, it did not give comparison figures against last year as it said the results were skewed by its new e-commerce system, but it added that year-on-year comparables looked strong.

CEO Peter Ruis described the new system that uses its stores as a “virtual warehouse” as the “living embodiment of omnichannel”. He said the company made record sales online and had its best December internationally.

The mid-market retailer currently has most of its stores in Britain, particularly around London, but is also available in the US, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore and South Africa. Many of its locations are in major department stores.

Ruis said the Christmas selling season was “highly challenging”, as the rest of 2016 had been. But he said that the chain has benefitted from being “clearly identified as a ‘Christmas brand’, offering a unique, stylish and differentiated gift at this special time of year.”