Digital retailer, The Very Group, has reported strong furniture sales during its Black Friday and Christmas periods.
According to its latest trading update for seven weeks to 23 December 2022, Very retail sales grew +2.2% compared with the corresponding period in 2021, when Omicron drove strong performance among UK online retailers. Compared to the corresponding period in 2019 (pre-pandemic), Very retail sales grew +19.6%.
Very said that toys, gifts and beauty (+17.7% YoY), and home (+10.2% YoY) were the standout categories, with the latter driven by furniture (+14.4% YoY) and homeware including textiles and home accessories (+11.2% YoY).
Lionel Desclée, Group CEO at The Very Group, commented: “Our team pulled out all the stops to deliver an amazing Christmas for the families we serve and a strong trading performance for the period.
“We recorded year-on-year growth in Very and grew market share despite the challenging backdrop. As expected, our customers prioritised toys, gifts and beauty items for their loved ones, justifying our decision to invest in stock within the category.
“Our performance was underpinned by our trusted supplier and delivery partner relationships and our highly automated fulfilment centre, Skygate, which allowed us to meet our customers’ expectations throughout the festive period.
“The impact of the high cost of living will create challenges for all retailers in the year ahead, but we’re confident that our combination of online retail and flexible ways to pay will continue to offer our customers the convenience, value and flexibility they need.”
