Hong Kong retailer Sincere says its core department stores division boosted sales in the first half. But it still finished HK$67 million in the red, a $9 million improvement on the same period last year.
Thanks to aggressive promotional campaigns, four out of the six stores recorded revenue growth – the Tsuen Wan Citywalk and Yau Tong Domain stores by a healthy 20 per cent, the Shamshuipo Dragon Centre store by eight per cent and the Central Li Po Chun store by 14 per cent.
Sincere says the improved sales for Tsuen Wan Citywalk and Yau Tong Domain stores, were due to fine-tuning of the merchandise offer with more Korean fashion labels leading to more loyal customers and VIP members returning for repeat purchases.
The core department store operations recorded a revenue of $162 million in the six months to August 31, when excluding the impacts of the closures of Grand Century Place store and the boutique Olympian City store in April and November 2014 respectively.
“Focus was placed on launching various new marketing initiatives and promotional campaigns. Apart from the seasonal launch and crazy sale theme, a number of new programs were introduced including Come and Experience Italian Fashion, Fashion Seoul 2 and, various joint promotions with business partners, restaurants and clubs in order to catch the other market segments,” the company said in its results announcement.
Sincere CWB and Sincere MK stores both recorded a slight decline in revenue of one per cent and three per cent respectively.
“Retail shops in Causeway Bay and Mongkok districts were experiencing high rental expenses and declining foot traffic. In view of such difficult situations, the management has carried out renovation in March and July, respectively. With the uplifted image, famous international brands and Korean fashions were introduced to enhance the product assortments.”
The contribution from Roadshow was down as a result of high rental and limited supply of venues. The revenue from the 27 Roadshows for the six months was $4 million, down by two per cent from the 31 Roadshows in the previous period.
Sincere has operations outside retail so its overall figures are less relevant in a retailing context. But the company reported a two  per cent decline in total revenue to $163 million, with the loss attributable to shareholders up 34 per cent to $93 million.
To help improve the performance of its retail businesses, Sincere plans to
expedite the launch of an on-line shopping platform and execute a focused customer relationship management program (CRM). A new advertising campaign will be launched this winter to drive sales and solidify the new contemporary image of Sincere.