National pet retailer Jollyes has reported record Christmas results, with sales increasing by 31% year-on-year in the four weeks to December 31, 2022.
The figures were lifted by new stores and acquisitions which meant Jollyes, by year end, was trading from 84 stores over the period, compared to 67 previously. After excluding the effect of new stores, like-for-like revenues were 19% higher than the previous year and 39% higher than Christmas 2020.
Total transactions grew by 9.6% in December, with online traffic up by 23% during the month. Jollyes’ busiest day was Friday December 23, when it served 38,000 customers in store.
During the month, Jollyes saw a four-fold increase in sales of its premium artisan Lifestage dog food as customers traded up for Christmas, with Angus beef the most popular line, followed by venison and duck. The retailer also reported growth in private label cat food, with Rileys becoming its best-selling cat food for the first time, and also experienced a doubling in sales of frozen raw dog food and LF Millers’ hay for rabbits.
Jollyes has six new stores planned for the first half of 2023, including Peterborough on Saturday January 28 and Port Glasgow at the end of February. Jollyes also plans to give an additional 10,000 dog meals to local food banks in January and February.
Jollyes chief executive Joe Wykes said: “I want to give all our colleagues a massive thank you for their hard work serving customers this Christmas. We had a record-breaking Christmas because we have the best people in pet retailing.
“All our stores, whether they’re long established or newly opened, are well on the road to becoming go-to destinations for their local pet parents.”
