Retailer Very reports strong Black Friday and Christmas sales

The Sony PS5 games console was one of the best-selling items for the online company.

Online retailer Very has reported strong sales for Black Friday and Christmas (Tim Goode/PA) (PA Archive)

Strong demand for games consoles helped online retailer Very notch up strong festive sales despite a “challenging” market.

The best-selling items included Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, as well as Marc Jacobs perfumes.

Sony recently announced it has sold 50 million PS5 consoles since its launch in late 2020.

Toys, gifts, beauty and electrical products helped grow Very sales by 3.4% year on year.

Electrical sales increased by 7.4%, but home sales were down by 2.9% and fashion and sports items decreased by 3.9%.

Very Group chief executive Lionel Desclee said: “Our team delivered a brilliant range of products, strong pricing, an engaging new marketing campaign, and an improved online experience to give families everything they needed this Christmas.

“As expected in the current economic climate, consumers were on the lookout for amazing deals.

“We served these to existing customers and plenty of new customers during our Black Friday campaign, with games consoles, wireless earbuds and perfume among our best-sellers.

“Whilst we are pleased with these results, we also know that the year ahead will be challenging for all retailers.

“However, our operating model, which combines multi-category digital retail and flexible ways to pay, will remain resilient and continue to provide families with a one-stop-shop for everything they need.”

Under the Very Group, Littlewoods and Very Ireland witnessed a 2.1% year-on-year growth in retail sales.

Very said November 27 was its busiest sales day over the period, with 205,000 items processed.