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Published
Sep 2, 2021
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JoJo Maman Bébé raises prices, sites higher supply chain, transport costs

Published
Sep 2, 2021

Mother-and-baby products retailer JoJo Maman Bébé has been forced to raise prices, blaming supply chain issues and rising transport costs. The prices hike, its first time in around five years, is down to shipping costs quadrupling in recent months, it said.


JoJo Maman Bébé


Commercial director Gwynn Milligan told the BBC: "We've had no choice but to pass on some of these costs to our customers”.

She said price rises won’t be uniform, but will depend on each item and what it’s made of. Importantly, she noted that the company was also having to absorb increased costs on some products, because of competition from retail rivals.

Milligan told the broadcaster’s Radio 4 Today programme that the firm had seen increases in the cost of raw materials such as wood, paper and plastics.

"We've looked at prices across our competitors and also what customers realistically want to pay. There's no set increase in any area, but it depends on what we've looked at and what's going on in that sector."

While the retailer doesn’t believe that price increases will be sustained, it also pointed to problems with deliveries too — largely down to a shortage of lorry drivers at ports and difficulties in obtaining shipping containers.

Milligan said: "We're advising customers not to panic because we've increased our orders to deal with the ever-growing demand for JoJo.”

The retailer said its customers have already starting planning their Christmas buys. It said the term ‘Christmas’ was the third-highest search on its website last week, an indication festive spending will be higher due to lockdown restrictions hampering festive plans last December.

It comes as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned that price increases could last into the winter months.

“There are some modest indications that rising costs are starting to filter through into product prices,” said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson earlier this week.

She added: “Disruption has been limited so far, but in the run-up to Christmas the situation could get worse, and customers may see reduced choice and increased prices for their favourite products and presents”.

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