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| Next online sales jump as stores suffer | Next online sales jump as stores suffer |
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| Next has reported a sharp rise in online sales over the Christmas period, while trading at its stores declined. | Next has reported a sharp rise in online sales over the Christmas period, while trading at its stores declined. |
| In a continuation of recent trends, online sales rose 15.2% between 28 October and 29 December from a year earlier, while store sales fell 9.2%. | |
| In total, full-price sales at the retailer were up 1.5% over the period. | |
| Next said strong sales during the three weeks prior to Christmas and the October half-term holiday had made up for a "disappointing" November. | |
| The retailer expects an annual profit of £723m, slightly lower than its previous forecast of £727m. | The retailer expects an annual profit of £723m, slightly lower than its previous forecast of £727m. |
| It blamed the lower forecast on strong sales of less profitable items including beauty products and personalised gifts. | It blamed the lower forecast on strong sales of less profitable items including beauty products and personalised gifts. |
| The company said it was particularly difficult to forecast how its business would perform this year, due to the uncertainty around the UK's upcoming departure from the European Union. | |
| At the moment, it assumes economic conditions this year will be the same as the second half of last year and expects store sales to fall 8.5% and online sales to be up 11%. | |
| Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said that knock-down prices were taking their toll on all retailers. | |
| "Overall, in the context of a heavily discount-driven environment, retailers' profitability will remain under intense pressure as profit margins are squeezed further." | |
| He also pointed out that the move to online sales created additional costs for retailers, including delivery and organising returns. |