Omni-channel sales drive store growth at Lululemon

Comparable-store sales and store traffic increased by 2 percent in the first quarter, according to Celeste Burgoyne, executive vice president of the Americas. The boost is due in part to the fact that the retailer is adding more omni-channel capabilities to its stores. “Technology now allows us to fulfill in-store demand with our e-commerce inventory,” Burgoyne said on the retailer’s first-quarter earnings call. “We have the ability to ship from store in 186 locations and will further expand this capability in 2018. We will also roll out buy-online pick-up in-store functionality during the second half of the year.”

The retailer also crowed about its holiday pop-up strategy, which involved opening 24 temporary locations. "Not only did these stores allow us to fulfill holiday demand but they were also a way to attract new guests and in fact 40 percent of the guests in these seasonal pop ups were new to Lululemon,” said COO Stuart Haseldon. The retailer has decided to keep a few of those pop-up locations open permanently, he added, and will increase the number of pop-ups it opens for holiday 2018.

The retailer is also searching for a new CEO after the abrupt resignation of cofounder Laurent Potdevin, who stepped down in February.