Shop Direct benefits from strong performance at Very
Shop Direct, the owner of Very and Littlewoods, saw its group revenue increase by 3.7% in the run-up to Christmas.
Its performance was driven by an 8.8% sales uplift at Very in the seven week period which ran to 28 December.
The group said it achieved revenue growth across all of its main product categories which include clothing and footwear, electricals, seasonal items, and furniture and homewares. Clothing and footwear was best performing category with sales up by 8% year-on-year at group level and by 15.7% at Very.
Henry Birch, Shop Direct group chief executive, said: “I am delighted that against a challenging retail backdrop we delivered a record Christmas period in terms of total revenue whilst maintaining retail margin rate in line with last year.
“Throughout our peak trading period we focused on delivering a great customer experience and curating the right deals for our customers and our business during our extended Black Friday event. We put more emphasis on December than ever before and saw encouraging growth in key departments like sportswear and toys.”
Some 79% of Shop Direct’s online sales came from mobile devices, which was up from 74% in the same period in 2017. Total mobile sales increased by 12.7% year-on-year.
Looking ahead to 2019, Birch added: “Given the potential impact of the political backdrop on consumer spending, we expect the year will be challenging for retailers. However, our peak trading performance gives us reason for cautious optimism.”
