Buy.com's losses grow

Online reseller Buy.com has shrugged off a sharp increase for its first quarter loss, focusing instead on substantially increased gross margins which it predicts will put it on the path to profitability.

Online reseller Buy.com has shrugged off a sharp increase for its first quarter loss, focusing instead on substantially increased gross margins which it predicts will put it on the path to profitability.

The reseller, which launched in the UK in March, posted a loss of $32.85m and turnover of $207.62m for the quarter ending 31 March, down from a loss of $19.25m and sales of $107.93m for the same period last year.

But gross margins increased from 0.8 per cent to 4.3 per cent as a result of a broader consumer adoption, more effective merchandising, improved advertising sales, and a reduction in the use of coupons for promotions and customer purchases.

Greg Hawkins, chief executive of Buy.com, said he is pleased with the results. "No doubt there's been a lot of scrutiny in the public market over our margins and how we'd be able to get this thing profitable. We've certainly migrated the business and we think it is going to pay off," he said.

"Our revenue growth and gross and operating margin improvements demonstrate our positive momentum toward the revenue scale and profitability targets of our sustainable business model."

First published in Computer Reseller News