One of the areas reporting sales growth is the Other Markets segment, which includes the company's total online sales along with the physical department stores in Finland and Germany. Here, net sales increased by 15.7 percent to SEK 790 million. The new CEO Cathrine Wigzell highlights the digital business:
The Other Markets segment had the strongest total sales growth during the quarter, driven by new department stores and a positive development for Rusta Online, she writes in the report.
According to the company, a strengthened gross margin development is noted for e-commerce. The digital channel has been fully rolled out and is available in all of the company's active markets following previous launches.
258 units at the end of the year
While e-commerce is increasing, the company continues its physical expansion. During the first quarter, five new department stores were opened. In a previous press release, the company also stated that a total of 14 new department stores will open during the autumn months. These are distributed across six in Finland, five in Norway, two in Sweden and one in Germany. This means that the department store network will amount to 258 units. The intensive establishment rate during the autumn is expected to lead to increased costs in the short term, but is described in the interim report as a central part of the company's long-term growth plan.
The company's loyalty club, Club Rusta, continues to expand its membership base and now has over 7.1 million connected customers. The company's CEO summarizes the direction for the business during the coming quarter.
We now look forward to continuing to welcome existing and new customers to Rusta during the autumn, both in our department stores and online, says Cathrine Wigzell.