Shoppers shift online

Hallenstein Brothers and Glassons shoppers are taking their business online. The group has reported total sales for the six months to February of $122.9 million, up 9.4 per cent on the same period a year early. Profit was $9.2m, up almost 35 per cent. Margins increased as the company made use of a better exchange rate and cheaper product cost prices. Chairman Warren Bell said while Glassons saw strong sales growth in both countries, Hallenstein Brothers and Storm saw a small decline in sales on the prior corresponding period. He said total group sales for the first seven weeks of the 2017 winter season were encouraging, up 5 per cent on last year. But it was online that results really shone. ‘‘Growth in sales from e-commerce continues to outperform bricks and mortar, with sales for the first seven weeks of the season up 36 per cent,’’ Bell said. Online sales were up 35 per cent for the six months.