Inditex sees online sales boom

Online sales for Spanish fashion conglomerate Inditex have increased as much as 42 percent to a record amount of 553 million euros (442 million pounds). Turnover for the fashion company also grew to 16.7 billion euros (13.3 billion pounds), up from 15.6 billion euros (12.4 billion pounds) last year, according to Spanish newspaper Expansion.

Whilst other high street retailers have struggled to keep their heads above water this year, it seems as if any negative effects of the recession continue to slide off Inditex, owner of labels such as Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius. Even though consumer spending has declined over the past years, online sales for these Spanish brands have increased.

Although the company does not publish financial figures for its online sales separately, the results were collected from financial reports from Inditex's online subsidiaries Fashion Retail (Spain and Europe) and ITX Fashion (US and Japan), which are located in Spain and Ireland.

The increase in sales via e-commerce is in line with analysts expectations, who predict that Inditex digital channel will remain one of its key growth markets. The director of the Deutsche Bank, Warwick Okines, estimates that 1 percent of Inditex's total sales is attributable to its online channel. Christo Chaviaras, an analyst at Barclays believes that this percent will increase to 3 or 4 percent over the next three years.