The world’s only 100% specialist cruise retail operator, Harding+, has reported revenue of £305m for FY2024, up 3.1% year-on-year, when according to ONS figures in December 2024, UK retail sales in general across the UK rose by only 1.4% in the same time period.
Profits before tax of £4.7 million — a £27 million improvement on 2023 — were achieved as 6 million transactions took place across 300 onboard shops on 86 cruise ships.
With 92% of cruise guests saying they plan to shop on board, the company believes cruise is emerging as one of retail’s fastest growing and most ‘guaranteed’ channels. The cruise sector in general continues to boom, with guest occupancy levels up from 95% to 98.7% year-on- year, and global guest numbers expected to reach 42m pa by 2028.
Harding+ CEO Chris Matthews says: “Cruise guests are highly engaged, for both planned and impulse purchases. We’ve are building a retail environment where brands know they can capture attention and loyalty in a unique 7–14-day cruise window, something that’s increasingly difficult to guarantee on the high street or online.”
CCO Linzi Walker explains “Jewellery and watches continue to grow in part because guests have the time and desire to spend time researching, discussing and making smartly educated choices from talking to our onboard category experts. And fashion and activewear growth naturally flows from the love of building a holiday wardrobe. Beauty and liquor categories work well because shoppers treat cruise as indulgence-time and we have a really strong price differential Vs landside equivalents. When you add in the omnichannel marketing potential of the cruise ecosystem pre, during and post trip, effective retail storytelling becomes a fully integrated part of the wider cruise experience.”
The business also partnered with two of largest cruise ship launches of the year, Cunard’s most ambitious ship to date ‘Queen Anne’, and Princess Cruise Line’s flagship ‘Sun Princess’ cementing its position as the sector’s leading retail operator.
Harding+ credits its customer transformation programme for the results, focusing on tighter range reviews, more disciplined stock management and more direct relationships with brand and retail partners instead of wholesale routes.
“It’s about simplifying the model and ensuring customer-first standards lead the way, with the knowledge that in this channel the shopper is guaranteed to turn up,” added Matthews
“We have also invested significantly in smart technology, AI, automation, and advanced data analysis to deliver on the shared ambition of highly tailored marketing and retail engagement for both brands and guests.”
Sustainability is a core focus for the business and 2024 saw a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, contributed to in part through investment in automation and AI to improve logistics planning and delivery models.
As part of the customer transformation journey, Harding+ also invested in key new senior hires from the mainstream retail spectrum that saw Simon Luscombe join as Chief Financial Officer(ex-Homebase, Hobbs), Linzi Walker as Chief Commercial Officer(ex-Howdens, Sainsbury’s, Argos), and Mark Powell as Chief People Officer(ex-Poundland, Fat Face).
As Matthews concludes “Ambitions and realities for 2025 are high on the back of a good year of transformational focus, strong partner relationships with cruise lines and a commitment to customer centric thinking in both logic and creativity.”
“For retailers searching for growth beyond the squeezed high street, cruise is proving to be the channel hiding in plain sight, and the one that should be increasingly difficult to ignore.”
