Dive Summary:
- Williams Sonoma increased its sales from e-commerce 15% during the second quarter to a total of nearly $477 million, accounting for nearly half of the total sales revenue generated in the U.S. from online and in-store commerce combined.
- Executives for Williams Sonoma claim that sales from e-commerce also accounted for more than 90% of direct-to-consumer sales, including sales orders placed via phone from paper catalogues.
- International revenue also grew roughly 56% to roughly $50 million total, according to information released by Williams Sonoma CFO Julie Whalen.
From the article:
This fall, it will launch a web site personalization technology application that it says will increase by fivefold the number of online visitors for whom it will serve up personalized web content. “This is a big deal,” chief marketing officer and executive vice president Patrick Connolly said on the conference call. He noted that about half of site visitors are anonymous newcomers, but that the retailer expects its new personalization system will be able to “deliver relevant content even to people who have never been to our site before.” The retailer didn’t further describe its personalization technology, including whether it was built in-house or acquired from a commercial vendor.
