Total company net sales saw a decline of 6.8 percent year-over-year (YoY) to $3.2 billion. Gross merchandise value (GMV) also decreased by 7.1 percent compared to the same period in fiscal 2022. This downturn was partly attributed to the wind-down of Nordstrom's Canadian operations, which negatively impacted total net sales by 270 basis points, the company said in a media release.

Focusing on the Nordstrom banner, net sales decreased by 9.4 percent and GMV by 9.8 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2022. The wind-down in Canada had a more pronounced negative impact on the Nordstrom banner net sales, contributing to a 410-basis-point decrease.

In contrast, the Nordstrom Rack banner reported a smaller decrease in net sales, down by just 1.8 percent compared to the previous year.

Nordstrom’s digital sales, which now account for 34 percent of total sales, also experienced a decrease of 11.3 percent compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

Despite these sales declines, Nordstrom saw an improvement in its gross profit margin, which rose to 35 percent, an increase of 180 basis points from the same period in fiscal 2022.

Inventory management showed positive results, with ending inventory decreasing by 8.8 percent compared to the same period last year, outpacing the 6.8 percent decrease in sales.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses, as a percentage of net sales, were slightly improved, decreasing by 5 basis points to 36.3 percent compared to the same period in the previous fiscal.

"In the third quarter we continued to make progress against our priorities, and we're especially pleased with the resulting improvements in gross margin and earnings," said Erik Nordstrom, chief executive officer of Nordstrom. "Given continued uncertainty and softening consumer spend, we're remaining agile and focused on serving our customers."

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)