Corporate affairs manager Jill Campbell said the losses incurred by David Jones Online were in line with expectations, and that the retailer had not expected the online division to break even until the 2002-2003 financial year.
-That's what we expected for (David Jones) Online in its first year," she said.
The retail giant today posted pre-tax earnings for the 2000-2001 financial year of AUD$58.5 million, down $AUD10 million from the previous year. That represented a profit shrinkage of AUD$7.6 million.
Campbell said the retailer had spent around AUD$4 million on the purchase of e-tail group TheSpot - including its transaction software, Web site and warehouse - and a further AUD$7.5 million redesigning that software.
She said the remodelled online shopping site, launched in November, incurred a further AUD$7.2 million operating loss, an amount the retailer hoped would be halved in the next financial year.
That operating loss was despite nationwide online sales of AUD$3 million, she said.
-We would be looking to do substantially more than that in the next financial year," she said.
-We've actually been really pleased with how it's been travelling."
Campbell said most of the losses incurred by the company's online operation were once-off start-up costs.
She said those costs were relatively low because the company did not have to invest in any branding campaigns specifically related to the Web.
-We haven't had to develop a brand. People know who David Jones is," she said.
