A strategy to pause outlet expansion and focus on store-level profitability yielded stronger annual sales for the premium bakery-café chain, with app transactions, click & collect and delivery key contributors to revenue growth
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Lagkagehuset currently operates 140 stores across Denmark, the UK and the US | Photo credit: Lagkagehuset
Danish premium bakery-café chain Lagkagehuset has credited an increased focus on digital channels as boosting group sales over the last 12 months.
Lagkagehuset, which operates 109 stores in Denmark and trades as Ole & Steen in the UK and US with 26 and five stores respectively, said 2024 digital sales grew 41% year-on-year and now account for 10% of group revenue.
CEO Joachim Knudsen – who joined the business in January 2024 – told Danish financial firm Finans the Lagkagehuset app is now used by 100,000 customers weekly, click & collect orders have risen year-on-year and delivery is now available from 90 Lagkagehuset stores across Denmark.
The progress comes after Copenhagen-based Lagkagehuset paused outlet expansion across all markets in July 2024 to focus on organic growth and higher group profitability. The premium bakery-café chain saw losses exceed DKK 783m ($112m) over the five-year period ended 31 December 2023 after scaling its UK presence and launching in the US in 2019.
Despite mounting losses arising from expansion, Lagkagehuset – which serves coffee from Scottish specialty roaster Modern Standard across its 140 outlets – achieved record DKK 1.46bn ($209.5m) revenues in 2023.