Shop Direct has Christmas cheer for online growth

SHOP Direct, the Liverpool-based home shopping giant, has announced increased sales and margins over its Christmas period, driven by online growth.

The company said sales for the six week Christmas period to January 1, 2010 were up 6.3% on last year and added that margin growth was “significantly ahead” of sales growth due to less clearance activity and stronger supplier support.

Online sales during the period were up by 19% on last year, accounting for 65% of all sales, it added.

Mark Newton-Jones, group chief executive, said: “This Christmas, we have seen yet another strong trading performance across all of our brands. This is particularly pleasing as it follows on from last year, when we had an extremely successful Christmas where we recorded 9% growth for the same six-week period.

“We found that last year customers concentrated their shopping into two weeks but this year, we have seen four equally large trading weeks; the last two weeks of November and the first two weeks of December. 

“We believe that the ease of shopping online allows customers to manage their shopping time more effectively, planning earlier and shopping later.”