Dr. Martens is focused on the US market. Revenues from the Americas declined in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (April 2023-March 2024) due to difficulties in the wholesale channel. For the company, therefore, improving performance in the US “remains the number one priority”. Dr. Martens, without providing figures or percentages, issued a financial note in which it stated that the results recorded from April to June 2023 were “in line with expectations”. And the expectations stated in June, when it unveiled the numbers for the fiscal year ending in March, were for sales growth of 5% to 10% at constant exchange rates.
The American market
“We made operational mistakes in America, such as the move to our Los Angeles distribution centre and the way we executed our marketing campaigns and online sales”, said CEO Kenny Wilson about the financial year that ended last March. “Taking America back to good growth is our number one operational priority”. But the results did not come in April-June 2023, the first quarter for the company. Revenues fell again due to difficulties in wholesale. “The actions we are taking are progressing according to plan”, said the company. However, it admitted that it will take some time, and “until the second half of the year to see a significant improvement”.
Good retail
US aside, Dr. Martens released an encouraging business update. Especially for the retail channel. Sales in the first quarter and those at the beginning of the second quarter “showed very good growth in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific”, the note says. Progress in online sales was also good. As expected, revenue in wholesale declined. This was due to “strategic decisions” taken by the company: the reduction of flows to EMEA online retailers and the termination of the relationship with the Chinese distributor.
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