Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活), which runs the Eslite bookstore chain, department stores and leisure lifestyle services in Taiwan and abroad, aims to achieve revenue of NT$18.5 billion to NT$19 billion (US$628.9 million to US$645.93 million) this year after extending losses in the first quarter, chairwoman Mercy Wu (吳旻潔) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday.
The Taipei-based group is struggling to swing back to profit after posting losses of NT$1.46 per share in the January-to-March period, as the COVID-19 pandemic weighs on its popular Eslite bookstores and department stores.
Eslite Spectrum has sought to survive by adopting an online-merges-offline (OMO) business model that enables offline retailers to tap into existing e-commerce platforms with better utilization of its business network and lower costs, the newspaper quoted Wu as saying.
Photo: CNA
The company incurred losses per share of NT$4.82 last year for the first time since its listing on the over-the-counter Taipei Exchange. Wu attributed the poor results to the COVID-19 pandemic and capital spending to create an online sales network.
The chilling effect was most evident in Eslite branches at transportation hubs and popular locations in northern Taiwan, she said.
The company last year launched a three-year transformation geared to restore annual revenue to the pre-pandemic level of NT$20 billion next year and boost it to NT$30 billion thereafter.
Reaching the NT$30 billion target would mean the company’s sales channels are growing, and its emphasis on cultural tourism, community life and e-commerce is paying off, Wu said in the interview, adding that the effort must eventually lead to improved earnings to be called successful.
Eslite Spectrum plans to open large flagship bookstores and small neighborhood outlets accross Taiwan as well as overseas to increase customers and expand its business scale, Wu told the newspaper.
The pandemic is reshaping business districts around Taiwan, with small retailers being forced out of the market while demand for food, beverages and recreation prove stronger than regular shopping, Eslite Spectrum said.
Further, the business mix and leasing structure of commercial properties have been forced to change, but consumer activity at the neighborhood level remains active, the company said.
Affiliate Eslite Hotel (誠品行旅) at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區) in Taipei is currently wooing domestic tourists before the government reopens Taiwan to foreign tourists, it said.
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