Maplin boosted by CCTV and drone sales as Christmas like-for-likes rise

The electricals specialist also revealed that online sales between November 27 and January 2 rose 33.3%.

Click-and-collect transactions rose and now account for 36% of all online sales.

However, Maplin boss Oliver Meakin admitted that margins were “marginally behind” last year because of Black Friday, but declined to give an exact figure. It also declined to give a total sales figure.

Meakin, who took over from John Cleland as boss last September, added: “Given some challenging market conditions, we are pleased with our overall Christmas performance.”

The retailer, which has 217 UK stores, said sales of CCTV equipment were up 31.7% year on year. 

“Customers are thinking more about security and the price point of CCTV is more attractive these days, plus it is relatively easy to install,” said Meakin.

Gadgets also performed strongly for the retailer as it described the drone DJI Phantom Quadcopter as the “must have” Christmas gift, but without giving sales figures. 

Maplin also experienced the “three peaks” in Christmas trading, reported by other retailers such as John Lewis. This involved a peak around Black Friday, the week before Christmas and during post-Christmas Sales, with softer trading in between.

Meanwhile, on the threat posed by its pure-play rivals such as Amazon, Meakin said: “I genuinely don’t believe pure-play retailers, either online or bricks-and-mortar, will be the winners in the long run.”

He added: “I believe that in the market we operate in consumers want advice and they want the ability to choose how they shop with the brands.

“It’s not necessarily convenient to have to wait at home between 12 o’clock and 1 o’clock for a delivery, instead of going to a shop to speak to someone who knows what they’re talking about for advice.”