The Finish Line achieved a record fiscal 2014−$1.67 billion in net sales (15.7% increase over the prior year), $518.9 million in net sales (17.2% increase) for the fourth quarter, and same-store sales increases of 4.2% for the fiscal year and 6.3% for the fourth quarter.
Glenn S. Lyon, Chairman and CEO of the Finish Line, credited a significant amount of the company’s record revenue performance to its successful Winners Circle loyalty program.
“Our Winners Circle Loyalty program is a major contributor to our recent success,” Lyon said during the company’s March 28 earnings call. “Our improved capabilities allow us to directly market to our more than 9 million loyalty members. These marketing campaigns have been very successful, typically generating multiple points of contact via smartphones, tablets or PCs to research products and compare prices and more often than not ultimately resulting in a store transaction. To illustrate our progress, over 60% from our total transaction came from loyalty members in 2014, this was up from 53% last year.”
Lyon said the impressive financial results were fueled by a pipeline of innovative products from vendor partners across running and basketball and the successful execution of key initiatives laid out at the start of the year.
“Three years ago we set out to transform Finish line into a leading multi-divisional omni-channel retailer,” Lyon explained. “We put the company on a path to deliver sustainable sales and earnings growth and return greater value to our shareholders. Several key components comprise this broad strategy with the customer at the center of it all. This means better understanding our core customers’ needs and more effectively marketing to that demand and more efficiently converting that demand to drive sales.”
Lyon wants The Finish Line to be the destination of choice whenever, wherever and however consumers shop for athletic footwear.
“We need to ensure customers get the premium experience they seek at every touch point,” he said. “The notion that stores in digital, our separate channels run independently of each other is a thing of the past. At Finish Line, one drives the other and together they are strengthening our customer connections and propelling our total business forward.”
Evolving and executing its omni-channel strategy remains a key driver of increased productivity in The Finsih Line’s core business.
“In support of this omni-channel strategy over the past year, we made upgrades to the front and backend of our digital platform, launched new mobile solutions and instituted marketing and consumer outreach programs to drive traffic to our brand,” Lyon said. “Key performance indicators have tracked or matched are measurable progress on this front. We also elevated the store experience with improved functionality and enhanced capabilities of our POS system. This resulted in improved conversion and increased dollars per transaction throughout the year.”
Stores in digital are completely intertwined at The Finish Line.
“Customers can search our entire inventory to find their exact style and size through our in-store POS system or outside the store by our Internet and mobile sites,” Lyon explained. “We are continuing to enhance the seamless experience to improve delivery methods that would include ship to home, pickup in store, expedited shipping and the ability to return their purchase to any store regardless of which channel they brought from. With brick-and-mortar a vital element to our successful omni-channel strategy, we are continually looking for ways to enhance the in-store experience. In fiscal 2014, this was achieved to the increased utilization of the hand-held devices by store associates to help speed up customer checkout, sign up loyalty customers, and effectively drive incremental sales.”
Lyon said the company is gaining a tremendous amount of knowledge on how to develop a strong community presence and cultivate consumer loyalty at a very local level, “tactics that we are combining into a suite of best practices and deploying across that group to drive increased productivity.”