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Very.co.uk has announced a 25.2% year-on-year increase in retail sales in the seven weeks up to and including 25 December 2020, marking the best recorded sales over a Christmas period to date.
The increase in sales was predominantly due to Covid-19 pushing retail online, as government lockdown restrictions continued to affect physical retail stores.
Revenue, including financial services income, increased 23.3% year-on-year, while overall group revenue grew 15.3% year-on-year to surpass £500m for the period for the first time.
The online retailer also reported a 46.2% rise in homeware and 44.8% increase in electrical categories. It also saw a 200.5% growth in home improvement, comprising flooring and paint, as more customers started DIY projects during the pandemic.
Sales via the Very mobile app also rose by 33% year-on-year, with retail sales for the Black Friday promotional period (6 November to 2 December) up 25.8% and web traffic up 55% year-on-year.
In addition, Littlewoods subsidiary reported that group retail sales grew 18.1% in the seven weeks compared with the same period last year.
Overall, the group acquired an additional 500,000 new customers during the seven week period, which was a 25.5% increase year-on-year from 2019.
Henry Birch, CEO at The Very Group, said: “We are delighted with Very’s outstanding performance, which shows UK families were more determined than ever to celebrate this Christmas, despite all the challenges of 2020.
“Christmas shopping started early at Very and our committed team worked tirelessly to deliver for our customers. Continued appetite for entertaining the family and home improvement during the pandemic resulted in strong growth across our electrical and home categories, in particular.”
He added: “Our record-breaking performance was supported by our new fulfilment centre, which processed 3.9m orders during peak; an incredible achievement for a facility that only launched in March this year, when the first national lockdown was announced.
“While the economic picture remains unpredictable, we have strong momentum as we begin the year. I believe our resilient, flexible and proven business model, which is online, multi-category and offers customers flexible payment options, will continue to help us thrive in 2021.”
