An outdoor clothing and equipment retailer is set to launch a sales portal in China in time for the country’s biggest online shopping day.
Mountain Warehouse revealed it has struck a deal with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to sell its range of outdoor gear ahead of “singles day” , a reverse Valentines celebration for singletons, which happens on 11 November.
The Alibaba website has promoted the sales frenzy on the day since 2009, a similar sales promotion to pre-Christmas “cyber Monday” or “black Friday” sales in the US.
By the end of the year, the business will have opened 34 new stores, in 2015, bringing the total to 225 and creating over 200 jobs. In the UK this year, new stores have already opened in Eastbourne, Evesham, Cromer, Shrewsbury and Inverness
The firm, which has shops in Aviemore, Elgin, Fort William and Inverness, said it enjoyed a 24.7% jump in sales in the half year to August 30 2015, marking a “record half-year results for a third successive year”, it said.
The company said the cool wet summer drive sales which saw pre-tax profits rising 31% to £4.3million. The company’s internet sales were up 41.3% and now accounts for almost 20% of revenue.
It said growth in the second-half of the year has shown “no sign of slowing”, with the 6 weeks from the end of August also seeing significantly positive growth in like-for-like sales, it said.
Mark Neale, Mountain Warehouse’s founder and chief executive, said: “We have had another amazing six months, helped by the wet August but with our summer products also selling well earlier in the season. Our cycling and running ranges also continued to perform strongly and well ahead of last year.
“I’m delighted to say, as we head into autumn, that this has continued which means that 2015 is shaping up to be another record year.”
Mr Neale, who led an £85million management buyout of the business in October 2013, added: “I am also very excited by our collaboration with Alibaba, which gives us direct access to sell into the Chinese market. We have been sourcing products from China for over 10 years but this is a huge opportunity for us and demonstrates our flexible approach to international expansion through both traditional stores and digital channels.”