River Island’s Profits Skyrockets Thanks To Mini-Me Fashion

River Island’s childrenswear and mobile shopping has boosted profits up to 70% and numbers are on the rise. The family-owned high street retailer launched River Island Mini last year and it has since claimed a chunk of the £4.6B UK childrenswear market. River Island is the latest retailer to jump on the trend bandwagon of parents dressing their children in matching outfits and at any expense. Profits soured from £88M to £149.1M in less than a year with a 10.4 % surge in sales to £925.8M at the end of December 2014. River Island owes the surge in profits to investing in IT systems and to opening flagship stores in the UK and abroad. River Island’s CEO, Ben Lewis explains how the investment is paying off with a 48% increase in mobile traffic on their website and 32% rise in click and collect sales.

Mr Lewis explains the rise in profits also reflects a shift in customer behaviour to shop on the go and how customers valued River Island’s “fashion with a twist.” “We don’t have a target age demographic but we are focused on those who are young in attitude.” In addition to 248 stores in the UK, the family-owned retailer has shops in Sweden, Holland, the Middle East, Malta, the Philippines, South Africa, Chile and Peru.

Last year, River Island’s sales surged with Rihanna collaboration and Lewis says it was “keeping its options open for further celebrity collaborations.”

It was Mr Lewis’s uncle Bernard Lewis who started it all. He first sold knitting wool from The Wool Shop on an east London bomb site, then in the 1960’s the retailer gained popularity and was rebranded Chelsea Girl bringing low-cost fashion to the high street. By 1988 the company changed its name to River Island moving Chelsea Girl and Concept Man brands together under the same roof.