The Sportsman's Guide Reports that February Internet Sales Grow to Represent 4.4% of Total Sales for the Month of February
Internet Sales Double Over Those Recorded in Prior Month
SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sportsman's Guide, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGDE - news) announced today that Internet sales represented over 4.4 percent of the Company's total February sales, more than twice the 2.1 percent reported by the Company for the month of January 1999. The Company disclosed the growth in connection with an appearance at the third annual Swenson NHB Investor Relations Small Cap Investment Conference, held Wednesday, March 10, 1999 in Minneapolis.
Gary Olen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, ''We continue to be extremely excited by the growth in our Internet sales. We fully expect that the momentum will continue. It is important to note that all of our sales to date have been generated from individual merchandise offers as opposed to complete catalogs. We just began posting complete catalogs on our site late last week.''
Olen reiterated recent comments that Internet sales provide The Sportsman's Guide an especially compelling opportunity. ''Going forward we expect to drive more customers to our web site, increasing Internet sales dramatically and benefiting the Company by providing a more profitable medium than our traditional catalogs.''
Olen noted that The Sportsman's Guide spends approximately 20 cents of every sales dollar for advertising, which includes catalog preparation, paper, printing and postage versus significantly lower incremental costs to sell on the web site. In addition, the taking and initial processing of a traditional order currently costs the Company 4 cents of every sales dollar versus one- half cent of every sales dollar to take and initially process an order that comes through the web site. ''Investors are just beginning to understand the huge leverage involved in converting phone or mail customers to Internet customers,'' he concluded.
The Sportsman's Guide is a Catalog and Internet Company of value priced outdoor gear and general merchandise, with a special emphasis on outdoor clothing, equipment and footwear. In addition to its Internet presence located at sportsmansguide.com , the Company expects to distribute more than 80 million catalogs resulting in sales to over 1.2 million customers in 1999. In late December The Sportsman's Guide was included in a listing of Internet ''E-tailers,'' e-tail.org , ''companies who have implemented electronic commerce sites to allow for the latest trend in retailing'' and in January the Company was named one of 20 companies to watch by the Internet Stock Review, internetstockreview.com
This release contains forward looking statements which are subject to change based on various important factors, including but not limited to general economic conditions, a changing market environment for the Company's products and the market acceptance of the Company's catalogs and Internet related services.
SOURCE: Sportsman's Guide, Inc. |
