Mr Price Group reported a 64.1% increase in online sales in the 53 weeks ended 3 April 2021, with the same figure from its core apparel and sports brands more than doubling in the same period.

“The group’s calculated investment into its online offering over the past nine years continues to generate profitability, particularly in a year where this channel’s importance to customers increased significantly,” the retail group’s CEO, Mark Blair, said on Thursday.

“Our platforms have delivered superior performance in generating traffic and customer experience,” he said.

Online traffic increased by 65.7%, with 86.4% of this traffic generated from mobile devices. The Mr Price app remained the top-ranked fashion shopping app in South Africa according to Google app rankings, it added.

“During the year, the average number of orders per day doubled, and the group processed an order every 58 seconds, increasing to every 11 seconds over the Black Friday week,” it said.

“Steady investment into this strategically important platform has enabled significantly larger order volumes to be processed, which the group believes will continue to grow in the years ahead.”

Cellular

Double-digit sales growth in cellular (handsets and accessories) and intentional “mix changes” in its mobile virtual network operator business, MRP Mobile, contributed to total telecommunications gross profit margin increasing by 30 percentage points.

Online sales now contribute 2.4% of group sales, Mr Price said.

Other highlights of the period, on a 52-week basis, were:

Revenue of R22.8-billion, up 0.6% (+11.6% in the second half).
Headline earnings per share up 2% (+21.6% in the second half).
Market share by 150 percentage points, according to Retailers’ Liaison Committee — the equivalent of R1.2-billion.
Retail sales accelerated by 8.5% in the second half, with both the home and telecoms segments achieving double-digit growth.
Annual gross profit margin margin increased by 130 percentage points to 42.5%.