Online retailer Very.co.uk听has reported record-breaking Christmas sales.听
Sales听climbed听25.2% year-on-year in the seven听weeks up to and including听Christmas Day听at the Liverpool-headquartered听site, part of integrated online retailer and financial services provider听The Very Group.听
Retail sales across the group,听which also operates Littlewoods.com,听grew 18.1%.听Overall听revenue, including financial services income, at Very increased 23.3% year-on-year, while overall听group revenue grew 15.3% year-on-year to surpass 拢500m for the period for the first time.听
The standout categories on flagship site Very.co.uk听were home and electrical,听up 46.2% and 44.8% respectively, which the firm suggested may have been due to people spending disposable income听on their homes while听under COVID-19 restrictions.听听
Games sales were up听106.4% following the launches of PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles.听
Very.co.uk听added more than听500,000 new customers听and听processed听3.9m orders 鈥� peaking at 265 orders per minute 鈥� through the听group鈥檚 new highly听automated fulfilment centre, which launched in March 2020.听
With听150,000 customers a week using听the听AI-enabled听Very Assistant chatbot, the firm said听customer service performance听improved听while human听contact听with customers听reduced 25% year-on-year.听
Henry Birch, CEO at The Very Group, said:听鈥淲e are delighted with Very’s outstanding performance, which shows UK families were more听determined than ever to celebrate this Christmas, despite all the challenges of 2020.听听
鈥�Because we听sell everything our customers could possibly want except food, are online only and offer a range听of payment options, we were perfectly placed to help a record number of people make the most听of the festive period.听
鈥淐hristmas shopping started early at Very and our committed team worked tirelessly to deliver for听our customers. Continued appetite for entertaining the family and home improvement during the听pandemic resulted in strong growth across our electrical and home听categories, in particular.听
鈥淥ur record-breaking performance was supported by our new fulfilment centre, which processed听3.9m orders during peak; an incredible achievement for a facility that only launched in March this听year, when the first national lockdown was announced.听
鈥淲hile the economic picture remains unpredictable, we have strong momentum as we begin听the year. I believe our resilient, flexible and proven business model, which is online, multicategory听and offers customers flexible payment options, will continue to help us thrive in 2021.鈥�听