Record growth in e-com

Against all odds, Kicks managed to achieve improved profits in 2020, largely by compensating for the difficult situation in physical stores through strong online growth of 63 percent. E-commerce now accounts for about 24 percent of Kicks’ sales, and the company has taken important steps from just two to three years ago, from a retail chain with a modest e-commerce to an omni-offer. Two things have been central to enabling growth. One is that Kicks has in recent years invested heavily in improved analysis capacity. The second is that just before the pandemic hit, Kicks had switched to variable marketing investments – which simply means that you can invest as long as the return is positive, instead of based on a specific budget – which meant that you could immediately move quickly when many consumers moved from physical to digital channels. 

In March 2020, online food purchases completely exploded. The tremendous growth was driven not least by new e-shoppers in older age groups. During the second quarter, some 25 percent of the orders in Willys and Hemköp’s customer program came from people over the age of 70, compared with only 4 percent during January-March. Looking at the full year, Axfood’s e-commerce had grown by 112 percent, and most of all, “click and collect” grew, where customers order online and pick up the food.

112% – increase for Axfood’s e-commerce

Since Dustin has grown from its origins as an e-store for IT products, it is not surprising that about 80 percent of the companies’ sales take place online. By standardizing both hardware and service packages, Dustin wants to move an even larger part of both sales and service to an online environment. As we work in varied places – a trend that seems to be here to stay – the need for professional IT environments will increase, something that creates growth opportunities.