The Ecommerce giant The Very Group, owners of retail brands Very and Littlewoods, has reported a downturn in sales with its Home offering experiencing a decline in demand.
According to its latest trading update for the 39 weeks ended 2 April 2022, total group sales were down 6.1% to £1.6bn compared to £1.7bn against the same period last year.
Very sales were down 4.2% to £1.3bn, but did increase on a two year comparison by 16.9%. Littlewoods sales were down 14.1% to £295.9m.
“Home revenue decreased by 20.5% following a record year in FY21, as customers continued to shift away from one-off spend on large home items towards a more typical basket, which prioritised clothing and sportswear,” Very Group said.
The Very Group plans to offer consumer loans of up to £15,000 as part of a strategy designed to bolster its access for consumers to a broader product range.
Commenting on the key points in the service, TVG said: “In the first half of FY23, we plan to begin the pilot of our personal loans product offering, which will provide customers with access to even more products. The offering will be targeted to a similar credit group to that which TVG currently serves.
“As part of the pilot, we will initially offer loans of £2,500 – £7,500 over 12 to 60 months to existing Very customers. Provided the pilot is successful, we have an ambition to extend the loans to non-Very customers in the following years as well as increasing how much we offer to up to £15,000.
“By diversifying our Very Pay product range, we will increase our relevance to the customer and play a more critical part in their lives whilst diversifying our income stream.”