ZOOM AND TIKTOK KEEP SALES TICKING OVER AT SHAVER SHOP

SHAVER Shop has emerged as one of the big winners from lockdowns and home isolation, with people still keen to look their best while on video calls.

But chief executive Cameron Fox believes his shoppers will be equally enthusiastic about trimming their beards, removing unsightly hair and trimming unkempt mullets when they emerge from months of lockdowns and prepare to socialise again and return to the office.

Mr Fox, whose network of Shaver Shop stores is evenly split between catering to male and female shoppers, said the pivot to video calls and social media through the pandemic was helping to support his sales. “You just step back and think about this category logically, with the growth of Instagram, TikTok, Zoom calls, people still care about jumping on the calls and looking sharp so they are kind of being forced with everything closed to have a crack at it themselves,” Mr Fox said, after posting a 68.3 per cent rise in full-year profit to $17.47m.

At about six weeks of lockdowns the urge to “do it yourself” grips many consumers as women reach for at-home hair removal kits and men buy up clippers.

However, products for “clean shaves” for men suffer as many men let their beards grow longer and only trim rather than conduct a full clean shave. Revenue for fiscal 2021 lifted 9.6 per cent to $213.677m with the retailer’s active online customers up around 120 per cent to 490,000 at the end of June.

The company said that online sales were up 41.1 per cent to $61.2m with the online channel representing 28.6 per cent of total sales in 2021.

In a trading update, Shaver Shop said total sales between July and August had fallen 7.3 per cent while like for like sales were better by 0.5 per cent. Online sales were up 52.8 per cent. Shares in Shaver Shop closed up

4.9 per cent at $1.07.