-
Holiday shoppers flock to Overstock.com
Overstock.com rode the wave of e-commerce during the holidays to an 18% increase in profits.
The online retailer said fourth-quarter revenues rose 18.3% to $470.4 million as the e-commerce heavyweight increased its average order size to $159.
The retailer also said its gross margin increased by 0.2% to 18.2% due to improved warehouse efficiency, lower inbound freight costs and reduced credit card fees.
-
Flat-profit Ikea to focus more on digital?
Neither a surge in online sales nor a rebounding U.S. economy has been enough to lift Ikea, as the global furnishings retailer reported flat profits for 2014.
Ikea, which operates 315 stores in 27 countries, said net profit for its fiscal year through August rose 0.4% from the previous year to $3.76 billion, far slower than the 3% growth the retailer logged last year, and its 8% growth in 2012.
Analysts say the results show that IKEA is sticking to its strategy of lowering prices and broadening its e-commerce offering.
