Boots cheers ‘very strong Christmas’ as high street stores buoy sales

Boots hailed a “very strong Christmas” as it revealed that retail sales jumped by around 15% in December.

It came after the health and beauty retailer and pharmacy group revealed that strong high street footfall helped sales jump over the latest quarter.

The company, which is owned by US giant Walgreens Boots Alliance, revealed that like-for-like retail sales grew 8.7% over the three months to November 30, against the same period last year.

It said this included a bumper Black Friday, which saw the firm record its “biggest ever day” for online sales.

Growth was helped by a 13% rise in sales in its stores, as the group saw a continued recovery in high street footfall following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sebastian James, managing director of Boots UK & ROI, said: “It has been another positive quarter for Boots.

“Our focus on giving customers our best-ever value to help with cost-of-living pressures, as well as continued investment in our digital capability and in updating our store estate, has resulted in increased retail sales and market share growth for the seventh consecutive quarter.

“Our Black Friday and Christmas performance was particularly pleasing, and I would like to thank the teams for their huge efforts in bringing our customers genuinely fantastic offers.”

It came as Walgreen Boots Alliance revealed that total sales decreased by 1.5% over the latest quarter, compared with the same period last year.

Nevertheless, the group increased its sales guidance for the current financial year as sales exceeded expectations and it factored in its acquisition of Summit Health.

The update comes seven months after Walgreens Boots Alliance scrapped its plan to sell the Boots business.