Rituals misses billion-euro turnover forecast

Dutch cosmetics chain Rituals had hoped to reach a turnover of a billion euros this year, but Covid-19 decided otherwise. The new aim: avoid a turnover drop.

E-commerce doubles

Rituals is the latest victim of the Covid-19 crisis: the Dutch chain had hoped to raise its turnover from 865 million euros last year to the milestone of a billion euros now, but founder Raymond Cloosterman has now lowered his ambitions. Avoiding a (big) turnover drop is the best the chain can hope for, he said in an interview.

There already are “some signs of recovery“, Cloosterman told Dutch website RetailTrends: e-commerce has doubled in size since the start of the lockdown – even growing as much as fourfold during the lockdown itself. Online is already good for 20 % of the group’s total turnover.

Next year, the chain hopes to grow to 1040 stores, a target that remains unchanged despite the Covid crisis. The main expansion area is China, but Rituals sees European opportunities as well: the store network in France and Germany can still be doubled, Cloosterman hopes, while he also wants to expand to Italy, Poland and Russia.