The Liverpool-based online retail group Shop Directgroup have reported record setting Christmas sales, particularly in the group’s flagship Very brand, which experienced a 23% uplift.

The e-commerce company has claimed that sales in the seven weeks leading up to and including Boxing Day were up by 4% overall against “extremely strong comparatives” from the previous year.

Recent trends have seen the former catalogue shopping retailer see digital sales increase by 89% of total sales, compared with 84% in 2013.

Sales through mobile devices also increase to 45%, now representing 56% of online sales. Website visits totalled 76 million, an increase of 18%, with mobile devices accounting for 64%of all traffic.

Alex Baldock, chief executive of Shop Direct, said:

“It was another record Christmas at Shop Direct and Very.co.uk once again led the charge.

“We like Black Friday. It was huge for us and acted as a starting gun for Christmas shopping – peak came earlier than in recent years. Traders like ourselves will thrive in the environment that Black Friday creates and we’re happy that it’s here to stay.

“The highly promotional market looks set to continue into 2015. We’ll continue to make sure we’re offering customers great deals while maintaining sales and profit growth.

“We’ve got lots to look forward to in 2015. Our new brand, Very Exclusive, is set to democratise luxury. We’ve also got big things planned in data analytics, personalisation and financial services.

“Our transformation into a world class digital retailer continues.”

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Words: Peter Cribley