In its recent financial report for the first half of 2021, Card Factory has said that while cards will remain the largest part of the business, the retailer will increase focus on the complementary gifting and party markets.
The six months ended 31 July 2021 saw Card Factory reach £116.9 million in revenue. Pre-tax losses were also cut and came in at £6.5 million compared to a loss of £22.2 million at the same time last year. Sales during the period were 50.2% higher than the same period in 2019, before the effects of the pandemic.
Following her appointment in March 2021, the company’s new chief executive, Darcy Willson-Rymer, has led a full review of the business. She commented: “Since joining the Group one of my priorities has been to review the business and its growth strategy. Having recently completed that process, I remain extremely excited about the opportunities available to Card Factory.
“The delivery of the growth strategy set out in July 2020 – and the broader retail environment itself – has obviously been impacted by Covid-19. However, it is clear that the right way forward is to transition Card Factory from being a store led card retailer into a market leading, omni-channel retailer of cards and gifts.
“Whilst cards will remain the largest part of our business in terms of total contribution, we will substantially increase our focus on the complementary gifting and party markets, enhancing our customer offer and significantly increasing the size of our addressable market. The successful delivery of our strategy will be achieved by putting the customer at the heart of everything we do – ensuring that we provide outstanding value and quality across all our products and services, available however our customers want to shop.”
