Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch Co. announced its Q2 results, which beat analysts’ expectations and achieved a new sales benchmark.
Under the current CEO, Fran Horowitz, Abercrombie & Fitch achieved its 11th consecutive quarter of growth in Q2, with record net sales of $1.2 billion, a 7% increase from a year ago. Leading the charge was A&F’s teen-targeted mall staple, Hollister, which recorded its best-ever Q2 net sales, growing 19% year over year, offsetting Abercrombie brands, which were down 5% over the same period. A&F also increased its full-year net sales outlook.
“Traffic was nicely positive across both stores and digital direct channels in Q2, and we continue to engage with customers globally through social and in-store campaigns,” Horowitz told investors during Abercrombie’s earnings call.
Abercrombie & Fitch is No. 40 in the Top 2000 Database. The Top 2000 is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in North America. Rankings are based on retailers’ annual ecommerce sales. There, it appears in the Apparel & Accessories category. Digital Commerce 360 projects that Abercrombie & Fitch’s total online sales in 2025 will reach $2.19 billion.
Digital, omnichannel success help Abercrombie & Fitch in Q2 earnings
In 2025, digital and omnichannel sales are playing a key role at Abercrombie & Fitch, its leadership shared. Robert Ball, the chief financial officer at Abercrombie & Fitch, said the apparel store is increasingly merging its digital and physical presence, creating an omnichannel powerhouse.
“It’s about omnichannel,” he stated. “So the stores help us acquire consumers and create that physical brand experience for us. And while the digital allows us to scale, reach more customers, provide personalization, and engage more frequently with our consumers.”
He added that the company needs both and will continue to expand in that area.
“We need both to make this thing work, and we see opportunities in the A&F brand to continue to build out that fleet,” Ball said. The chain has had a successful online presence for years. In that context, recent efforts have focused on building a holistic omnichannel experience.
Martin Balaam, CEO and co-founder of AI-retail platform Pimberly, praised A&F’s transformation and its leveraging of digital components.
“From what I’ve seen, Abercrombie & Fitch has executed one of the most impressive brand evolutions in recent retail history,” Balaam said. “It seems they’re leveraging their product data and AI to understand their existing and potential customers better and have a presence where they’re shopping before the customer even arrives there.”
Moreover, Balaam noted that an example of this approach would be becoming more diverse and inclusive. He sees that happening through the expansion of A&F’s size ranges that were previously much narrower.
A&F’s supply chain and digital transformation
“They’ve also clearly optimized their supply chain and unified their product content across global channels, all of which helped them remain agile, and therefore relevant, despite external unplanned pressures like tariffs,” Balaam assessed.
He added that Abercrombie is outperforming many of its peers because it is not just selling clothes. It is selling identity, community and personalized experiences, he said.
“Unlike some legacy retailers still burdened by fragmented systems, Abercrombie is clearly leveraging smart digital transformation to meet their customers wherever they shop, and it’s certainly having quite the impact on their revenue,” Balaam stated.
Balaam said the retailer’s tech transformation has given the chain the ability to launch new collections faster and localize product experiences globally.
“Their embracement of AI at this scale is a chance the brand took that seems to be paying off in dividends,” Balaam said.
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