Very Group reports ‘resilient’ Christmas
The Very Group has reported “resilient” Christmas and Black Friday trading, with sales at the Very brand rising by 1.9%.
The group said the performance in the six weeks to 27 December was driven by strong demand in the home and toys and beauty categories, where sales increased by 7.9% and 6.4% respectively.
Best selling items included Jimmy Choo and Calvin Klein perfumes, Nintendo Switch 2 and Meta Quest 3S, while beauty gift sets and coffee machines also performed well.
Subscribe to TRBThe group said 209,000 items were processed at its Skygate automated fulfilment centre on Black Friday, which was its best trading day since the pandemic.
Robbie Feather, group chief executive at The Very Group, said: “By bringing together our great assortment of products, competitive prices and flexible ways to pay, we’ve delivered a strong performance during the Christmas and Black Friday trading period.
“Despite a challenging and competitive market, we’re delighted to see topline growth with Very UK sales increasing +1.9%, which includes a strong performance across home, toys and beauty.
“Plus, we’re pleased to have been able to give more customers the flexibility to spread the cost this Christmas. Our results over the period reflect the appeal to our customers of our multi-category retail and flexible payments offering.”
Including Littlewoods and Very Ireland, group retail sales declined slightly by 0.4% in the period.
