Shop Direct sees Christmas sales surge
Multi-brand online retailer Shop Direct, owner of the Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com platforms, has seen a surge in sales over the Christmas period driven by a particularly strong mobile performance.
Over the seven weeks to 26 December sales rose four per cent year-on-year, with Very rising by an impressive 23 per cent courtesy of a thumping Black Friday performance where sales surged by 134 per cent.
A particular strong suit proved to be digital with sales via mobile devices rising 45 per cent to represent 56 per cent of online. In tandem with this website traffic grew by 18 per cent to hit 76m with mobile devices accounting for two thirds of this traffic.
Symptomatic of these trends is continued rapid growth of click and collect services, reflected in the number of parcels delivered to Collect+ stores rising by 112 per cent.
Alex Baldock, group chief executive, said: “We continue to capitalise on the shift to mobile. Our customers shopped on the go this Christmas and our new Very.co.uk app will make this even easier for them.
“We like Black Friday. It was huge for us and acted as a starting gun for Christmas shopping – peak came earlier than in recent years. Traders like ourselves will thrive in the environment that Black Friday creates and we’re happy that it’s here to stay.
“We’ve got lots to look forward to in 2015. Our new brand, Very Exclusive, is set to democratise luxury. We’ve also got big things planned in data analytics, personalisation and financial services. Our transformation into a world class digital retailer continues.”