David Jones won't be cutting prices to lure more customers, despite yet another drop in sales.
The department store owner, whose sales have been steadily declining since 2011, saw revenue drop by 1.2 per cent in the year to July, to $1.85 billion.
Chief executive Paul Zahra said weak consumer sentiment continued to affect the business, and an unseasonably warm winter didn't help.
"We had such a warm winter so things like quilts, heating, throws, blankets, those kind of things weren't really required this year," he said.
"The warm winter has not helped matters, that's for sure."
Mr Zahra said the biggest drag on sales remained David Jones' electronics division, which accounted for around half of the total decline during the year.
But he said a recently announced deal to hand over control of the division to Dick Smith Electronics would provide a boost to David Jones in the year ahead.
"What has been an underperforming category for us will now be a profit contributor," he said.
Mr Zahra expects consumer sentiment to remain weak for the next 12 months, but the department store won't be trying to compete with other retailers by discounting prices.
He said the company had been winding back the amount of time it dedicated to clearance sales since 2011, when its department stores held several sales over the winter months.
"You're talking about four out of six months being on sale, and that is an issue for a brand of department store that's trying to attract international brands," he said.
Instead, David Jones will improve service and lift the performance of its fledging online store to ensure customers' needs are better catered for.
"Post the GFC we certainly weren't ready for the new world, which is the digital world, and we've only just got traction there really," he said.
"When Net-A-Porter can get a product to your home quicker than we could there's a problem, so we've now passed that gate."
