Very.co.uk achieves record Christmas sales

Very.co.uk has reported its best ever Christmas trading period after retail sales climbed by 25.2% in the seven weeks to 25 December.

The company said some of its best performing categories included home and electrical where sales increased by 46.2% and 44.8% respectively.

Very benefited from a 25.5% uplift in its number of new customers in the period and a 49.7% increase in website visits. In addition, sales via the Very mobile app were up 33% year-on-year.

Henry Birch, chief executive at The Very Group, said: “We are delighted with Very’s outstanding performance, which shows UK families were more determined than ever to celebrate this Christmas, despite all the challenges of 2020. Because we sell everything our customers could possibly want except food, are online only and offer a range of payment options, we were perfectly placed to help a record number of people make the most of the festive period.

“Christmas shopping started early at Very and our committed team worked tirelessly to deliver for our customers. Continued appetite for entertaining the family and home improvement during the pandemic resulted in strong growth across our electrical and home categories, in particular.”

Group retail sales grew 18.1% in the seven weeks when Littlewoods sales were included. Very said its performance was supported by its new fulfilment centre, which processed 3.9 million orders.

Looking ahead, Birch said: “While the economic picture remains unpredictable, we have strong momentum as we begin the year. I believe our resilient, flexible and proven business model, which is online, multicategory and offers customers flexible payment options, will continue to help us thrive in 2021.”

Source: Retail Bulletin