New Look to introduce nail bar concessions to increase dwell time

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New Look is to introduce concessions such as nail bars into stores to increase shoppers’ dwell time in-store.

The retailer has already trialled nail bars in a small number of stores which have “performed well” according to chief financial officer Alastair Miller who said it is looking to do it on a “broader scale”.

He said: “It’s all about adding things to store which will increase dwell time.”

New Look, which will close 20 of its 590 stores this year, has been eyeing concessions as a way to fill some of its larger shops.

The move follows supermarket giant Tesco last week unveiling its new generation of big box stores in Watford which includes a Giraffe restaurant, a Harris+Hoole coffee shop and a Euphorium bakery.

New Look EBITDA jumped 13.1% in its first quarter to June 29, as group like-for-likes rose 0.3% despite the unseasonable weather.

Chief executive Anders Kristiansen said that it had reduced the volume of markdowns by 25% over the period by ensuring it had “the right stock in the right store”.

He said analytics work it had carried out to understand the merchandising needs of individual stores had paid off.

Online was the star performer over the quarter, surging 78.7%. Miller said that the new search engine it had installed on site was one of the initiatives that had helped drive growth.

Click-and-collect, which it introduced last year, also continued to thrive with 25% of all online orders using the delivery option.

The retailer will continue with its store revamp programme and will refurbish another 100 stores this year. Kristiansen said its upgraded stores had experienced an average 9.3% uplift in profits.

Meanwhile, private equity investor SVG, which has a 27% holding in New Look, yesterday upped the value of its stake, which two years ago it wrote down to zero. It has revalued the stake at £10m.

SVG chief executive Lynn Fordham said: “Despite the tough economic environment and pretty extreme weather conditions, New Look’s earnings improved strongly last year mainly through cost-cutting and better margins thanks to fewer sales markdowns.”