Wesfarmers-owned online retailer Catch has surged over the six months to December 31, more than doubling its revenue year over year and spurring Wesfarmers to $2 billion in online sales for the half.
The site raked in $329 million in revenue over the back half of the 2020 calendar year, up from $155 million in the same period in 2019. Gross transaction value also skyrocketed to $610 million last year; however, the group recorded a small overall loss of $4 million for the half.
Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott has hailed the success of Catch, which also added 600,000 active customers over the half to a total of 2.1 million.
Rob Scott, Wesfarmers.
“Pleasing progress continued in Catch, with gross transaction value increasing 95.6 per cent for the half, supported by strong growth in both in-stock and marketplace offerings.
“Catch’s earnings were impacted by accelerated investment in technology, marketing and fulfilment capacity to support future growth,” he said.
Since acquiring Catch Group for $230 million in June 2019, Wesfarmers has integrated its own assets with the site, including offering Click and Collect in Kmart and Target stores; bringing Target on board as a marketplace seller and including Kmart products in stock on Catch; and linking Catch with the Flybuys loyalty program.
Wesfarmers saw a boom in online retail sales overall, with Catch driving massive online sales figures.
“Pleasing progress on the Group’s data and digital agenda in recent years supported strong online sales growth and digital engagement during the half. Total online sales across the Group more than doubled for the half, excluding Catch.
“Including the Catch marketplace, online sales of $2.0 billion were recorded for the half,” he said.
Catch was valued at upwards of $1 billion by analysts in July 2020.
