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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

PlayStation 5 and Ninja air fryers help Christmas sales rise at Very but Littlewoods stumbles

Demand for games consoles and air fryers helped sales increase at online retailer Very over the Christmas period.

The Liverpool-headquartered company has revealed the top selling gifts as its retail sales increased 2.2% in the seven weeks to December 23, 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.

However, when including Littlewoods' results, group retail sales fell by 1.3% year on year.

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At Very, sales of toys, gifts and beauty products rose by 17.7% and home items rose by 10.2%.

Group CEO Lionel Desclée said: "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."

Among the top-selling items by sales value were:

  • Xbox Series X games console
  • Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone air fryer
  • PlayStation 5 games console

Among the top-selling items by volume were:

  • Calvin Klein Eternity Moment perfume
  • Pokémon Violet game on Nintendo Switch
  • Barbie Dreamplane

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