The online retailer Pierce, that runs the online stores 24MX, XLMOTO and Sledstore, continued its strong growth in the second quarter of 2020. Net Revenues in the second quarter amounted to 472 MSEK, a growth of 39% compared to the second quarter of 2019 (340 MSEK).
The main driver for the Net Revenue increase was the continued success in the European markets with a growth of over 50%.
For the first half of 2020 the Net Revenues amounted to a record 780 MSEK, an increase with 172 MSEK, or 28%, compared to the first half of 2019. In the same period the company has had a strong development in its profitability on EBITDA-level.
– By the end of the first quarter, when the Corona-crisis hit society with full force, our focus was to prepare for the worst. We are dependent on having goods transported to our customers across different European markets. When some countries started to consider closing their borders, we decided to act. We reviewed all our costs and paused some investments. Despite a very challenging first half year with new market conditions and working from home, we have continued to grow substantially. It’s now clear that the motorcycle season is upon us and that more people want to experience the feeling of freedom from riding a motorcycle. During this year’s summer holiday we have the impression that people might enjoy riding their motorcycles, instead of travelling abroad, says Henrik Zadig, CEO of Pierce.
Pierce sells gear, accessories and parts to motorcycle- and snowmobile riders across Europe. Today Pierce runs localized online stores in 17 European countries and over 80% of the revenues come from markets outside Sweden.
Pierce employs around 400 people in 6 offices and warehouses in Sweden, Poland and Spain. Several measures have been taken to meet the challenge of keeping the business safe for the employees while remaining open for business 24/7. In the second quarter almost 50% of the employees, approximately 200 people, worked from home.
– It’s been such an effort by all employees to swiftly adapt the business to the new situation. I’m proud of the amazing work that’s been done across the whole organization. I dare not say what lies ahead of us in this Corona-crisis, but so far, our actions have been effective, and we are ready to do what’s necessary, says Henrik Zadig, CEO of Pierce.
– During the second quarter we went live with our new e-commerce platform on all markets. It was the pinnacle of a long and extensive journey to maintain world class performance and load times. The new platform had an instant positive impact on the conversion. Our next step is to further invest in- and improve the user experience, says Henrik Zadig, CEO of Pierce.