Freemans has reported continued growth over the Christmas period, with sales up 5% in the eight weeks to 31 Dec 2023.
Online retailer Freemans has reported continued growth over the Christmas period, with sales up 5% in the eight weeks to 31 December 2023 with Black Friday sales increasing 8%, compared to the same period last year. Homewares and electricals were particularly successful, with sales up 14% and Christmas decorations up 29% as it identified a new ‘tree in every room’ customer trend for the very first time.
In addition, over 60% of the products featured within its “Made You Look” TV advert sold out including perfumes, bedding, soft furnishings and a ‘sparkling’ red Smeg Kettle.
For the first-time customer accounts from old legacy trading brands, within its group portfolio, were ‘opened up’ so these customers could also shop seamlessly on Freemans.com as well. This delivered a strong incremental performance with the Freemans website trading 17%, in the period, as a result.
Ann Steer, CEO, Freemans, commented: “The last quarter was one of the toughest I can recall, with continued pressures on the customer’s purse. As such I am delighted with the strong growth that we have delivered over Black Friday and Christmas.
Last year Freemans announced that it would be dropping its 118 year old catalogue and instead pushing sales via a “Made You Look” campaign run on its owned channels and online.
“Our announcement to drop the catalogue, something that in the past has been central to both our business and firmly embedded within the nation’s shopping habits for over a century, was very clearly the right thing to do with customers old and new responding well to our digital-first approach.” Steer Added.
