Electricals etailer AO World has reported a record surge in sales over the Christmas peak period.
AO’s revenues climbed 67.2% to £457.3m in its core UK market during the three months to December 31, which also included the Black Friday promotional period. In AO’s other main market, Germany, sales rose 77.4% to €73.6m.
The retailer was confident in prospects for the final quarter and new financial year “as the structural shift to online is cemented in consumers’ minds” and AO benefits from “the ongoing tailwinds we expect to be driven by working from home and associated usage and appreciation of electrical products so essential to our day to day lives”.
AO founder and chief executive John Roberts said: “I believe we’ve seen 10 years of change in 10 months and experienced our strongest ever peak trading period.
“We backed ourselves by investing early in warehouses, vehicles, stock and people. This not only set us up to satisfy customer demand for electricals for the current crisis but also for the longer term, as the structural shift to online becomes a permanent feature of the market in the UK and Germany. One of our biggest achievements this period is to have our German business profitable throughout Q3.
“Our confidence in those investments has been rewarded by these exceptional levels of sales. We’ve seen how the short-term costs translate into a fantastic opportunity to drive lifetime value for millions of more customers.”
“Now that customers have experienced a better, digital-first way to shop for electricals, I believe the majority will never look back. We intend to cement that change by raising the bar on our service and proposition.”
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