Pier 1 continues reaping omnichannel strategy rewards

Pier 1 is touting the progress it’s made with its 1 Pier 1 omnichannel strategy, following financial results for the third quarter. Pier1.com continued to outperform the company’s expectations with increases in traffic and conversion, and representing more than 4% of total sales in the quarter.



The company reported net income of $26.8 million, or $0.26 per share, for the quarter, compared to $23.7 million, or $0.22 per share, a year ago. Total sales for the quarter were $465.5 million, a 9.6% increase from $424.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Comparable store sales increased 6.9%, driven primarily to increases in conversion rate and higher average ticket.



“We’re pleased to deliver solid third quarter financial results,” stated Alex W. Smith, president and CEO. “Our unique and special merchandise assortments created a well-positioned value offer that resonated with our customers. Our more overtly promotional marketing stance drove strong traffic, and our store and e-commerce teams delivered on conversion. In fact, this year marked a new, all-time sales record for both Black Friday and the full post-Thanksgiving weekend. In addition, our re-launched and re-branded Express Request program has been a resounding success with our customers and we anticipate this will remain an important growth driver going forward.”



The company has announced a new $200 million share repurchase program, as a result of its financial results, and has increased its quarterly cash dividend by 20% to $0.06 per share. It predicts total sales growth in the high single-digit range and same-store sales growth in the mid-single-digit range for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.



“We feel very good about our positioning and the execution of our holiday plans. Our holiday assortments have been very well received, as have our merchandising, marketing and customer engagement activities. We fully expect to capture additional market share over the holiday period.”