“A Crisis Always Creates Opportunities” – Michael Hill to Focus on Digital Offering

Michael Hil has experienced an 11.9 percent drop in sales across all stores in the third quarter of FY20. This comes as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and mass store closures around Australia.

Despite the stores closing across the country, the jeweller’s e-commerce efforts are ‘ramping up’ in Canada and Australia, with distribution completed in Queensland.

“We have intense focus on our e-commerce business and are trailing many initiatives to boost our digital sales and capabilities, such as interactive digital catalogues and direct selling,” the company said in its ASX trading statement.

Its recently launched loyalty program currently has more than 85,000 members, enabling them to ‘tailor [its] product offering and marketing to [its] customers’ requirements’.

“The business entered the crisis on a strong footing in all markets and channels,” said Daniel Bracken, CEO of Michael Hill. “The crisis has afforded us the ability to really focus on our digital business, and we will emerge with a much bigger and stronger offering. A crisis always creates opportunities – the combination of strong performance leading into the crisis and the decisive actions we are taking to preserve cash and strengthen our balance sheet will leave us well-positioned to lead the market through the recovery period, and we will emerge a stronger, leaner and more agile business.”

E-commerce sales for Michael Hill are increasing in Australia and Canada, the report found. Website sales were up by 49.1 percent for the quarter, representing 3.6 percent of the quarterly sales for the Group, after adjusting for Emma & Roe product.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, executive cash bonuses (STI) have been ‘cut to zero’ for the second half of the FY. Moreover, all executives have ‘agreed to a 20 percent cut in remuneration for the remainder of the FY’. Furthermore, fees for all Board members have been reduced by 50 percent for the remainder of the FY. These will be reassessed again on 30th June.

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