Bluefly.com's First Quarter 1999 Sales Results 43%
Ahead of Prior Quarter
Business Wire - May 13, 1999 07:31
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1999--
Preliminary April Sales Results Indicate Strong Sales Growth Is
Continuing
Bluefly, Inc. (NASDAQ SmallCap: BFLY), a leading Internet retailer of designer fashions at
outlet store prices (www.bluefly.com), announced today that its quarterly gross sales before
returns and allowances increased by over 43% to $457,000 in the first quarter of 1999 from
$319,000 in the fourth quarter of 1998. Based on a preliminary analysis, the Company expects
its April 1999 gross sales to be at least $325,000 before returns and allowances. The
Company also announced significant increases in the traffic to the Web site, the number of
page views and the number of registered users.
In the first three months of 1999, the Company has seen traffic to its Web site grow by over
90% to approximately 2.1 million unique visitor sessions from approximately 1.1 million
unique visitor sessions in the fourth quarter of 1998. The Company also saw its number of
page views increase by over 48% to more than 28 million in the first quarter of 1999 from
nearly 19 million in the fourth quarter of 1998. During this same period, the number of
registered users grew by approximately 87% to 48,690 at the end of March 1999 from 26,048
at the end of December 1998.
"We are extremely pleased by our first quarter results and the continued strong sales growth
we have seen in the month of April," said Ken Seiff, Chief Executive Officer. "When one
considers that first quarter retail sales are typically much weaker than fourth quarter retail
sales, which span the holiday shopping season, Bluefly's results may be even more
impressive," Seiff added.
In many respects, the Company's growth has continued in the month of April 1999. Traffic to
the Web site grew by approximately 81% to over 1.4 million unique visitor sessions during
April 1999, up from approximately 772,000 in March 1999. The number of page views grew by
approximately 58% to over 17 million in April 1999, up from nearly 11 million in March 1999.
The Company has also seen its total number of registered users grow by nearly 25% in April
to 60,611 as of the end of the month and the length of average user session remains above
12 minutes.
"We are very encouraged by the trends we have seen in the month of April," said Seiff. "It
is our view that the strong sales and traffic growth we have seen in the last month are the
result of our efforts to expand our selection of top, name brand products, broaden our
relationships with key online marketing partners, as well as the initial benefit from the launch
of a national print advertising campaign which is intended to establish Bluefly as a lifestyle
brand," Seiff added.
Currently, Bluefly.com offers approximately 4,400 styles of products from over 125
designers, and has strategic marketing alliances with 7 of the 8 most visited Web sites. In
addition to its online marketing efforts, the Company is presently running a national print
advertising campaign which features full page Bluefly advertisements in more than 17
different publications, including Vogue, Glamour, Elle, InStyle, Forbes and GQ.
Bluefly, Inc. is a NASDAQ SmallCap public company. Headquartered in New York City, in
the heart of the fashion district, Bluefly.com aims to be the most enjoyable way to shop for
designer and name brand apparel and accessories at up to 75 percent off of retail prices. Its
innovative MyCatalog feature is designed to eliminate the "hit-or-miss" aspect of off-price
shopping by allowing shoppers to see only those products which are available for sale and
match their interests. In its effort to become the preeminent Internet retailer of excess and
end-of-season apparel, fashion accessories and home products, Bluefly has established
strategic relationships with AOL, Excite, Go Network, Lycos, MSN, Netcenter, and Yahoo!.
In addition, the Company has established a co-branded site with the leading broadband
portal, @Home Network. By offering a meaningful alternative for consumers looking for
service and convenience in an outlet store environment, the Company is seeking to stake its
claim to the $26 billion total U.S. market for end-of-season and excess apparel and fashion
accessories.
Bluefly, Inc.
Summary Financial Highlights
(Unaudited)
-------------------------------------------- -------------------------
Three Months Ended
March 31,
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
1999 1998
---- ----
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Net sales $ 342,000 $ --
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Gross profit 50,000 --
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Loss from continuing operations (1,235,000) (197,000)
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Income (loss) from discontinued
operations 63,000 (101,000)
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Net loss (1,172,000) (298,000)
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Basic and diluted loss per share $(0.26) $(0.11)
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
Avg. number shares outstanding 4,516,900 2,700,000
-------------------------------------------- ------------ ------------
This press release may include statements that constitute "forward-looking" statements,
usually containing the words "believe", "project", "expect", or similar expressions. These
statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in reports filed by the
company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Forms 8-A, 8-K, 10-QSB,
and 10-KSB. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: the
competitive nature of the business and the potential for competitors with greater resources
to enter such business; the Company's limited working capital and need for additional
financing; consumer acceptance of the Internet as a medium for purchasing apparel; recent
losses and anticipated future losses; the startup nature of the Internet business; the capital
intensive nature of such business (taking into account the need for advertising to promote
such business); the risk of higher than expected return rates and bad debt expenses; risk of
litigation for sale of unauthentic or damaged goods; the successful hiring and retaining of
personnel; the dependence on third parties and certain relationships for certain services;
system development and maintenance risks; the dependence on continued growth of online
commerce; rapid technological change; year 2000 issues; online commerce security risks;
governmental regulation and legal uncertainties; management of potential growth; and
unexpected changes in fashion trends.
CONTACT: Patrick Barry, CFO
212/944-8000, x239
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