According to Pandora’s interim report for the first quarter of 2016, the company is still hoping to increase brand recognition by investing in concept stores and shop-in-shops while cutting itself out of multi-branded jewellery retailers.
The company recently changed its financial reporting structure. Previously, Pandora classified its points of sale as either “branded” or “unbranded.” Branded locations included concept stores, shop-in-shops and gold-level retailers (the multi-brand retailers with a “strong Pandora profile”), while unbranded points of sale were the silver, white and travel-level retailers (those carrying a medium or limited assortment of Pandora jewelry, respectively).
However, Pandora now groups gold retailers in the same category as silver, white and travel-level retailers, classifying them all as “multi-branded” entities.
The report, released this week, noted that while Pandora started the quarter with 1,838 multi-branded points of sale in the Americas, it ended it with 1,783—a reduction of 55. The company did not disclose how many of these accounts were gold-level vs. silver-, white- or travel-level retailers.
The report also noted that sales-wise, the brand saw its U.S. revenue increase 13 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter. Moreover, as a whole, sales in the Americas region grew 13 per cent from $240.8 million to $271.7 million USD.
Sales at Pandora’s shop-in-shops were down 27 per cent year-over-year. The company notes that they faced difficult comps from the first quarter last year, which included the initial sell-in of the Disney collection. Sales at existing concept stores reversed their decline, rising 2 percent.
The Americas generated 37 per cent of Pandora’s global revenue in Q1, down from 44 percent in the prior-year period. Globally, Pandora recorded sales of $726.2 million, a 34 per cent increase over the first quarter of 2015.
