Booths enjoys record Christmas as like-for-likes rise 6%

Booths enjoyed a record festive season in the 21 days to January 4, which included its biggest ever trading day on December 23.

The retailer said the sales uplift was driven by an increase in shoppers using its reserve and collect service and a strong product range.

Booths said 60% of pre-orders for festive food came from holders of its loyalty card, which was launched last summer, and online reservations for collection in-store rose by more than 30%.

Booths chairman Edwin Booth said: “We launched our Christmas marketing campaign early this year with the delivery of our Christmas Book, which inspired customers to plan ahead and order early.

“The 180-page book illustrated our Christmas lines beautifully and resulted in a pre-order sales increase of 22% with customers ordering in advance for Christmas Day.”

He added: “Customers care about quality and provenance at Christmas—they want to know they are buying the best, they want something exceptional to serve, made by someone who cares about the food they produce. Sales of premium turkeys and geese were robust.”

Booths also achieved strong growth in sales of alternative Christmas dinners including venison, Herdwick mutton, which was up 38%, and three-bird roasts which rose 65%.

Booth said his “canny Northern consumer base” had helped “keep us on our toes in terms of service, price and quality”.