The Very Group (‘the Group’), which operates digital retailer Very, has announced its Christmas and Black Friday period trading results for the seven weeks to 22 December 2023.
- Very UK retail sales grew +3.4 per cent year-on-year, supporting Group retail sales growth of +2.1 per cent year-on-year.
- Performance was consistently ahead of the UK online non-food retail market and represents growth in market share during the period.
- Toys, gifts and beauty (+8.8 per cent YoY) and electrical (+7.4 per cent YoY) were the standout categories.
- Games consoles and perfume were among the best-selling items.
- In December 2023, the Group successfully extended the ‘AS’ and ‘AJ’ notes of its UK securitisation facility to 1 January 2027 and increased them by £50m to £1.375bn without any changes to note margins.
Lionel Desclée, Group CEO at The Very Group, said: “Our team delivered a brilliant range of products, strong pricing, an engaging new marketing campaign, and an improved online experience to give families everything they needed this Christmas.
“As expected in the current economic climate, consumers were on the lookout for amazing deals. We served these to existing customers and plenty of new customers during our Black Friday campaign with games consoles, wireless earbuds and perfume among our best sellers.
“Whilst we are pleased with these results, we also know that the year ahead will be challenging for all retailers. However, our operating model, which combines multi-category digital retail and flexible ways to pay, will remain resilient and continue to provide families with a one-stop-shop for everything they need.”
Including Littlewoods and Very Ireland, Group retail sales grew +2.1 per cent YoY.
6.9m items were processed at Skygate, Very’s automated fulfilment centre. With 205,000 items processed on 27 November 2023, the busiest day of Very’s peak period.
The business had unveiled Very’s new brand platform – ‘Let’s make it sparkle’ – via a Christmas campaign that introduced the retailer’s new brand characters, Kerry, Terry and Cherry, the flamboyant flamingos. Kantar ranked Very’s Christmas ad as the retailer’s most successful ad to date and the second most persuasive Christmas ad of 2023 across all industries.
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