The Very Group has reported a “strong and resilient” festive trading period as toys, home and beauty saw the strongest sales.
In the six weeks to December 27, the group’s flagship brand Very UK saw retail sales grow 1.9% year on year.
Home was the standout category, growing 7.9% year on year, with toys and beauty close behind with a rise of 6.4%.
Overall group retail sales, which includes Littlewoods and Very Ireland, declined by 0.4% year on year.
The group also saw its best ever trading day since the pandemic on Black Friday, with 209,000 items processed at its fulfilment centre Skygate.
The best-selling items were mainly in electronics and beauty, including the Nintendo Switch 2, Meta Quest 3S, PlayStation 5, Ninja Home Barista Bundle, Jimmy Choo and Calvin Klein perfumes.
The Very Group group chief executive Robbie Feather said: “We know that Christmas is one of the most important times of the year for the families we serve and, here at Very, we’re proud to have been able to help customers make the season extra special.
“By bringing together our great assortment of products, competitive prices and flexible ways to pay, we’ve delivered a strong performance during the Christmas and Black Friday trading period.
“Despite a challenging and competitive market, we’re delighted to see top-line growth with Very UK sales increasing +1.9%, which includes a strong performance across home, toys and beauty. Plus, we’re pleased to have been able to give more customers the flexibility to spread the cost this Christmas. Our results over the period reflect the appeal to our customers of our multi-category retail and flexible payments offering.
“This resilient performance, including our best trading day since Covid-19, has been made possible thanks to the ongoing commitment and hard work of colleagues from across the business.
“As we look to the future, we continue to focus on delivering our strategic priorities, including driving innovation while leveraging technology and data to improve our customer offering.
“We are confident that our proposition will remain valued by customers as we enter 2026 with a great range of product offers that our customers will love, and we are well placed operationally to navigate the unpredictable nature of the market.”
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