Uniqlo January sales prove weak on inventory issues

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 2, 2022

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo had bad news again on Wednesday as it reported sales in its core Japanese chain down in mid-to-high single-digits. The fall continued a run of lower monthly sales.

The company said that same-store sales including online decreased by 7.1% year on year last month, while total sales fell by by a smaller-but-still-bad 6.3%.

The retailer is frequently affected by the wrong kind of weather for the season and late last year had complained that it wasn’t cold enough to shift some of its cool weather clothing. But in a twist, this time round, it said same-store sales declined “due to a lack of inventory of thermal clothing”, so even when the cool weather arrived, it seems it wasn’t able to take sufficient advantage.

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It added that it also suffered from “insufficient promotion of sales during sales periods, and a delay in the launch of our spring ranges caused by the late entry of stock”. That latter comment means it could have been hit by some of the supply chai issues that have been causing problems for retailers globally in recent periods.