LloydsPharmacy Christmas sales rise by 4.4%

LloydsPharmacy saw its overall retail sales grow by 4.4% year-on-year in December.

Online sales climbed by 26% boosted by a 195% increase in purchases made via click & collect.

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In the LloydsPharmacy stores, sales of gift items grew by 18% year-on-year boosted by a 4% uplift in fragrance sales.

LloydsPharmacy also saw growth in its core health offering with sales in the pain category rising by 5%. The retailer said the increase was driven by pharmacy staff offering expert advice on pain management.

Cormac Tobin, who heads up LloydsPharmacy as managing director for Celesio UK, said: “The figures demonstrate how well our omnichannel approach is resonating with customers.

“What this Christmas has shown the retail sector is that consumer behaviour has fundamentally changed. Two key forces are driving that change; omnichannel is empowering customers to shop on their terms and addictive promotional activity has created a series of calendar events where sales spike, rather than the traditional, steady increase in pre-Christmas revenue.

“This makes planning the operations of your business more challenging. Also, town centre shopping is now more about the social experience with key items being bought online. Retailers need to adapt and offer an in-store experience that assaults customers’ senses and seamlessly links the digital and physical worlds.”