Uniqlo monthly sales fall slows as cold weather boost winter clothes

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 4, 2019

Uniqlo has seen a number of sales declines in recent months as the weather in both the autumn and winter season proved too mild to boost sales of its cold weather offer.

But for January, the sales falls moderated somewhat with just a like-for-like drop of 1% in its core Japanese operation. And its total sales, which includes online, fell only 0.9%.

The company said that January sales of winter items were more buoyant and although overall customer numbers were slightly down compared to the year-to-date, average purchases per customer edged up, which has to be good news for margins.

Not that it’s time to break out the champagne just yet. Parent company Fast Retailing had said early last month, when it delivered its Q1 results, that Q2 would be difficult as it offloaded winter clothes at discount prices. 

Unfortunately, it had under-ordered cold weather gear in the previous year and increased its inventory this time in order to avoid the stock availability issues it had seen as a result. 

Operating profit at the Japanese Uniqlo business accounts for around 30% of Fast Retailing’s total so maintaining margins is crucial. The company didn’t comment on Monday about whether it had taken a hit through discounting the winter gear, but last month it had flagged that it would increase discounting in Greater China and South Korea to offload winter inventory.