The group of companies "Shoes of Russia", the first public company of the Russian fashion retail, announced operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.

The volume of consolidated unaudited revenue of the Group in the 1st quarter of 2018 increased by 6.1% and amounted to 2.257 billion rubles.Comparable sales decreased by 10.9%, despite the fact that the size of the average receipt increased by 2.4%.The growth of the retail network in the 1st quarter amounted to 34 own stores (20 of them belong to the Westfalika chain). In total, as of 31.03.2018, the network has 569 stores, of which 113 are franchised. At the moment, the chain has stores in 163 cities. The number of participants in the loyalty program, which operates in all retail chains belonging to the Group, increased by 22.4% in 12 months to 2,017 million participants.

In this quarter, "Shoes of Russia" began testing technological solutions based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. The main areas of application are automation of the processes of external communications and the work of the contact center, as well as internal communications and staff training. The introduction of new technologies will allow the company to significantly reduce costs, speed up business processes and improve work efficiency.

Comments Anton Titov, director of the group of companies "Shoes of Russia": "The first quarter of 2018 was quite successful for the company. Despite a significant shift in seasons and abnormally low temperatures in the first spring months, the company's revenue increased during the reporting period. The traffic of the Group's online stores increased by 46%, the share of omnichannel sales in retail revenue was 13.4%. As part of the network development program, we opened 34 new stores in 30 cities in the first three months of this year. We are increasing our presence in all regions of Siberia, the Urals, the Far East and the central part of Russia. In the 1st quarter, the Group significantly expanded the geography of retail sales and entered 10 new cities. As a result, the Group's retail network grew by 6%. In 2018, the Russian shoe market maintains positive dynamics, demand is gradually growing. We see how consumer preferences are changing, and buyers are actively acquiring more fashionable, interesting shoes made of genuine leather. Taking into account these trends, in the new spring-summer season we increased the share of fashionable shoes in collections to 30% (in 2017 it was 20%), expanded the range of casual-sport shoes.Summing up the results of the company's activities in the 1st quarter, we would like to note that the Group expanded the network in full accordance with the previously announced plans. We intend to implement a network development program for this year by the 4th quarter and launch 100 stores, which we also announced earlier. We will continue to expand product groups, including the range of clothing. As part of the Internet sales development program in 2018, we intend to launch new mobile applications of our brands and expand cooperation with online hypermarkets.

Photo: shutterstock, «Shoes of Russia»