The baby business isn’t booming – with retailer Mothercare reporting a sizeable annual loss as it attempts to turn around its struggling business. However, for mums and dads there are plenty of bargains to be had that will ensure their tots are at the cutting edge of the fashion stakes without paying over the odds.
What’s happened to Mothercare?
The babywear retailer reported losses of £102.9million over the year ending March 31: that compares unfavourably with a profit of £8.8million 12 months ago.
Its loss came as the company attempts to write off the value of assets relating to store closures in the UK. It currently has 311 stores across the United Kingdom – but wants to reduce this number to just 200 by March, 2015. In addition, it took a one-off charge of £104.4million as it covers the costs of revamping its business.
According to chief executive Simon Calver, Mothercare has a long way to go before it will return to “acceptable levels of profitability”. This is despite the fact that its sales actually grew over the period by 6.4 per cent and reached £1.23billion – although much of its success was driven by its stores outside the UK. Total sales in the UK actually dropped by 4.6 per cent – and stood at £560million.
Mothercare believes its business has been affected by a challenging economic environment, as well as increased competition in the marketplace. As such, it has launched a major review of all aspects of its business and has outlined plans for the next three years, which includes reducing the number of its stores in the UK and cutting costs in non-store operations. It is also looking to expand in fast-growing areas overseas – including the likes of Russia, India, Brazil and China.
So where are the bargains?
While the increased competition may be having a negative effect on Mothercare’s business, it is good news for customers – with babywear businesses actively competing with each other and driving down prices.
For an indication of the bargains that are available check out the baby and kids voucher codes section of Moneysaver. There are a host of great discounts available from notable retailers – so it’s well worth checking out this section before you shop. For example, you could save $15 on all offers above $300 with this Dino Direct voucher code, which runs until June 1. You could also enjoy five per cent off all orders at Bambino Direct until the same date.