Shop Direct, the owner of Very and Littlewoods, has reported that its group revenue increased by 3.7 per cent in the run-up to Christmas. The retailer attributed an 8.8 per cent rise in sales at Very in the seven week, period which ran to 28 December as one of the main reasons for this.
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.”
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.”
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