Very happy Christmas for Shop Direct
SHOP Direct, the Liverpool-based online retailer has reported record festive sales with flagship brand Very leading the way with a 23% uplift.
The company, which has transformed itself over the last few years into an e-commerce business, said sales in the seven weeks up to and including Boxing Day were up 4%, against “extremely strong comparatives” from the prior year.
In line with recent trends, the former catalogue shopping stalwart said digital sales increased to 89% of the total (2013: 84%)
Sales via mobile devices grew by 45%, representing 56% of online (2013: 42% Website visits increased by 18% to 76 million, with mobile devices accounting for almost two thirds of all traffic at 64% (2013: 52%)
Chief executive Alex Baldock said: “It was another record Christmas at Shop Direct and Very.co.uk once again led the charge.
“We like Black Friday. It was huge for us and acted as a starting gun for Christmas shopping – peak came earlier than in recent years. Traders like ourselves will thrive in the environment that Black Friday creates and we’re happy that it’s here to stay.
“The highly promotional market looks set to continue into 2015. We’ll continue to make sure we’re offering customers great deals while maintaining sales and profit growth.
“We’ve got lots to look forward to in 2015. Our new brand, Very Exclusive, is set to democratise luxury. We’ve also got big things planned in data analytics, personalisation and financial services.
“Our transformation into a world class digital retailer continues.”
