The tense global situation is also causing sales losses in the core markets of the multichannel fashion provider Bonprix. In the coming year, Carolin Klar will move up to the management board.
Sales in Germany are falling particularly sharply
After the end of the first half, the Otto subsidiary Bonprix reports a challenging 2022/23 financial year. Burdened by rising costs for raw materials, logistics and energy as well as a subdued consumer climate, the international fashion company recorded a decline in sales of almost eleven percent compared to the previous year. In the home and core market of Germany, sales fell by almost 13 percent.
However, an international comparison reveals a heterogeneous picture: Many countries, especially in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, continued to develop positively. The majority of the Eastern European markets, including Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary, were able to achieve good sales growth in the one to two-digit range. The same applies to Austria, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries Sweden and Norway, which also increased in single and double digits. The Finnish web shop, which was only launched in 2021, also developed “very positively”, it is said. Germany, the USA and Italy are reporting declining sales. Added to this is the exit from the Russian market in March 2022 due to the Ukraine war, which also contributed to a reduction in overall sales.
Sticking to IT and logistics investments
“Like many industries, we as a fashion company have not been spared the effects of rising procurement and energy prices and the associated decline in purchasing power and consumer restraint. All in all, this led to declining sales for Bonprix in the first half of the 2022/23 financial year, even though we were still ahead of the market across all product ranges. With the start of autumn and the second half of the financial year, we can report an initial relaxation, September went very well,” explains Dr. Kai Heck, managing director responsible for finance at Bonprix.
Despite the challenging framework conditions, Bonprix intends to continue to focus on strategic digitization topics. This includes, among other things, the expansion of social commerce and the standardization of the IT infrastructure, including the numerous apps across all countries. In addition, Bonprix is investing in efficient logistics processes in the shipping center at the Haldensleben site together with its partner Hermes Fulfillment. The aim there is to automatically record and process cartons through the complete digitization of incoming goods. The packing department will also be digitized and ergonomically optimized for the employees. In addition, the process should be more resource-efficient: paper inserts and invoices are no longer required.
Announcement: change in management
From March 2023, Carolin Klar, currently Vice President Product Management, will become a new member of the Bonprix Group management board. She will run the company together with Dr. Richard Gottwald (Chairman), Markus Fuchshofen and Dr. lead Kai Heck. In her future role as managing director, the graduate textile and industrial engineer will control the areas of purchasing, procurement and corporate responsibility. She succeeds the long-standing Managing Director Rien Jansen, who has been with the company since 2010 and is responsible for purchasing, marketing and retail. Jansen is retiring effective February 28, 2023.
In the past financial year 2021/22, the international fashion company was able to increase its sales by ten percent from EUR 1.76 billion to EUR 1.94 billion with a stable return (EBIT margin).