Gap Inc. Registers 49 Pct Boost In Digital As Store Sales Drop

Gap Inc. reported as part of its fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2020 results that pandemic-required store closures in global markets and softer store traffic in some U.S. regions with stay-at-home limitations impacted sales in the fourth quarter.

However, the company reported that online sales jumped by 49 percent in contrast with last year. Online comprised 46 percent of net sales in the fourth quarter. Store stores fell by 28 percent in the quarter, although comparable sales for the quarter were flat.

“Our powerful brands moved to offense with purpose-led marketing and strength in relevant categories, like Active and Fleece, allowing us to gain meaningful market share quarter-over-quarter in a fragmented environment,” Gap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sonia Syngal said in a press release.

Gap Inc. concluded the fiscal year 2020 with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $2.4 billion, in contrast with $1.7 billion at the conclusion of the fiscal year 2019. As for its overall results, Gap reported 61 cents in diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 on net sales of $4.4 billion.

The company said it is offering a fiscal year 2021 financial forecast, even with the uncertainty as a result of the pandemic. As part of that outlook, Gap said it foresees fiscal year 2021 net sales to exhibit “mid- to high-teens growth versus fiscal year 2020, which assumes COVID impacts persisting in the first half of 2021 and a return to a more normalized, pre-pandemic level of net sales in the second half of 2021.”

Gap Inc., a specialty apparel company, counts Old Navy, Banana Republic, Intermix, Gap, Athleta and Janie and Jack among its roster of brands.

The news comes as Gap Inc. said in November that it experienced a 61 percent rise in eCommerce sales during its fiscal third quarter that concluded Oct. 31, offsetting a 20 percent drop in in-store sales because of the continuing pandemic.