Net sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2006 were $307.2 million, a decrease of 5.9 percent, compared to $326.5 million reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2005.
Units sold rose by approximately 2.2 percent, offset by lower average selling prices of approximately 6.8 percent as a result of continued price point repositioning.
Blair's e-commerce channel generated $20.2 million and $73.8 million in net sales for the third quarter and first nine months of 2006 respectively, compared to $18.2 million and $64.2 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2005.
During the third quarter of 2006, web site traffic increased 19 percent over third quarter 2005 levels, while website conversion rates and average order values remained steady.
Revenue resulting from investments in keyword searches rose 62 percent, and revenue from natural search has nearly doubled following an intensive website optimization project.