Very is ‘star of the show’ at Shop Direct in run-up to Christmas
Shop Direct, the owner of online department stores Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and VeryExclusive.co.uk, grew its group revenue by 6.3% year-on-year in the seven weeks to 22 December.
The strong performance was boosted by 16.8% growth at Very, its largest retail brand.
Alex Baldock, group chief executive at Shop Direct, said: “This was another record-breaking Christmas for Shop Direct, on the heels of 9% growth last year and 6% in 2015. Once again, Very was the star of the show, with sales outpacing the UK online retail market. Our early focus on mobile continues to pay off, as it heads towards three quarters of our sales.”
The group said 73% of online sales came from mobile devices, up from 68% during the same period in 2016.
While sales climbed at Very, there was a 12.6% fall in revenue at Littlewoods which Shop Direct said was in line with its strategy of a profitable, managed decline for the brand
Shop Direct has also announced that Derek Harding has been appointed interim group chief executive alongside his current role of group finance director. He will take over from Baldock, whose departure was announced in October, when he leaves the business at the end of January.
Baldock added: “It’s been a privilege to lead this team and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together; turning a dusty old catalogue retailer into a growing, profitable and innovative etailer. Derek is an outstanding leader, and as I hand him the reins I know that Shop Direct will continue to thrive.”
