Shop Direct wary after strong festive sales

SHOP Direct Group, the country’s biggest home shopping retailer has reported strong Christmas trading figures with total sales in the six weeks to December 31 up 9%.

The Liverpool company, owned by the Channel Island-based businessmen the Barclay Brothers, said online sales had risen 20% and that 74% of sales had been made on the Internet.

Shop Direct said margins had increased during the period and noted that sales via mobile devices such smart phones and tablets soared 40% during the festive period and now account for 11% of all online transactions.

It said it had seen a “stellar performance” in its computer products category with laptop and tablet sales up 87%.

Clothing and footwear and electrical both grew in line with the headline sales figure, while toys and gaming was also a strong performer with more than 1.2 million units sold.

Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones, said the figures showed that consumers had left their shopping late, and said he expects sales to fall this year.

“Whilst we are pleased with our strong Christmas performance, the pattern of trading in the Autumn/Winter season suggests that many customers deferred purchases until the peak Christmas period.

Therefore, this level of sales is not representative of 2011 as a whole or what we expect to see in 2012.

“With the festive season now behind us, we believe the retail outlook for 2012 will remain subdued. Indeed, we expect it to deteriorate further as consumers continue to tighten their belts. As a result, we are forecasting lower overall sales for 2012.”