Shoe Carnival focuses on omnichannel agenda
Shoe Carnival may have had a challenging second quarter thanks to soft store traffic, but the company is looking forward to implementing improved digital capabilities — including the launch of its first-ever mobile app — as part of its aggressive push to evolve the omnichannel shopping experience for its consumers.
The company reported net sales of $222.1 million for the quarter, a 2.6% increase from net sales of $216.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2013. Comparable-store sales turned positive in July, fueled by the back-to-school season, but not enough to offset a choppy sales environment that saw consumers shopping closer to need. Comparable-store sales decreased 2.1% in the quarter.
“We will continue to make investments that we believe will benefit our long-term sales and earnings growth,” said Cliff Sifford, president and CEO. “Two initiatives we are excited about are the conversion from third-party fulfillment of our e-commerce orders to fulfilling those orders from our stores and distribution center and the addition of our first-ever mobile app. With these two initiatives set to launch in the third quarter, we are aggressively moving forward in the evolution of the omnichannel shopping experience for our customer.”
Net earnings for the quarter were $2.6 million, or $0.13 per diluted share. For the second quarter of fiscal 2013, the company reported net earnings of $5.8 million, or $0.29 per diluted share.
Looking ahead, the company has issued a conservative outlook for the third quarter. The company anticipates earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $0.45 to $0.51, compared to $0.54 in last year’s third quarter. For the second half of fiscal 2014, earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.53 to $0.64, compared to $0.57 in second half of last year.
The company’s guidance is based on the expectation that third quarter net sales will be in the range of $247 to $252 million. This expectation includes a range for comparable store sales of anywhere from negative 1% to positive 1%. For the second half of fiscal 2014, the company expects net sales in the range of $462 to $471 million with comparable store sales of anywhere from flat to positive 2%.
“We are incrementally more positive on the fourth quarter based on the anticipation of a strong boot season and we are well positioned with the right product assortment to take every advantage of improved consumer demand,” said Sifford.
The company opened 16 stores in the quarter and expects to open 32 new stores and close three stores in fiscal 2014. As of Sept. 3, the company operates 398 stores in 33 states and Puerto Rico.