Urban Outfitters relied increasingly on its digital channel to get customers the fashion apparel they wanted in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, which ended Jan. 31, 2022, and while the bottom-line results were promising, the transformation shows there are still some kinks to work out.
The company’s Q4 gross profit increased by $33.5 million to $367.3 million from $333.8 million in the same three-month period in 2020, primarily because the company didn’t raise its prices right away and incurred higher delivery and logistics expenses because of the ongoing supply chain snafus. In-store occupancy expenses were largely offset by customers increasingly choosing to buy apparel online.
Gross profit for fiscal 2022 jumped $254.1 million to $1.49 billion from $1.24 billion in fiscal 2020.
Urban Outfitters’ Q4 expenses were up $32.7 million (11.6%) compared to 2020, primarily because of the increased penetration of the digital channel. The company increased its digital marketing in the quarter to support the growing online sales and boost in customer count.
Urban Outfitters set a net sales record in Q4 at $1.33 billion, up 13.9% from the same time in 2020, with digital sales driving a large percentage of that uptick. For fiscal 2022, Urban Outfitters’ net sales jumped 14.2% from their fiscal 2020 level.
“Record fourth quarter sales were driven by positive ‘comps’ at all brands,” Urban Outfitters CEO Richard A. Hayne said in the Tuesday (March 1) announcement. “Strong customer response to our early spring offerings bode well for continued sales growth in the first quarter.”
Urban Outfitters opened 56 new retail locations in fiscal 2022: 29 Free People Group stores (including 18 FP Movement stores), 17 Urban Outfitters stores, nine Anthropologie Group stores and one Menus & Venues restaurant.
The company closed 18 retail locations in the year: eight Anthropologie Group stores, five Free People Group stores, three Urban Outfitters stores and two Menus & Venues restaurants. One Urban Outfitters franchisee-owned store and one Anthropologie Group franchisee-owned store opened in fiscal 2022.
Related: Urban Outfitters Enters Secondhand Market With Thrift Store App
Urban Outfitters Inc. debuted the Nuuly Thrift app for secondhand goods in August, creating an online resale marketplace for clothes customers no longer want. The Nuuly Thrift iPhone app and marketplace features women’s, men’s and kid’s apparel and accessories from all brands, not just Urban Outfitters-owned ones.
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