// Boots online sales soared 18% in its biggest digital Black Friday ever
// Store sales jumped 17% year on year
Boots had its biggest ever day online on Black Friday as sales grew 18% this year compared to last year’s record figures.
The retailer recorded three orders were made a second on boots.com with consumers taking advantage of the business’s ‘biggest ever Black Friday’ promotions.
Surging online sales saw the boots.com warehouse dispatch more products on Black Friday than any other day this year.
Meanwhile, Boots store sales were also up by 17% year on year.
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The busiest order hour was during England’s World Cup match against the USA on Friday between 8pm and 9pm, the retailer noted.
In the lead up to the biggest shopping day of the year, the retailer made several investments to improve efficiencies among its order fulfilment process.
It introduced more ‘hybrid’ stores, which pick and pack online orders. A total of 90 stores across the UK now fulfil online purchases to support its warehouse with click-and-collect orders.
The retailer also commissioned new UK-first automation at its main warehouse allowing an additional 70,000 lines a day to be picked, which saw it fulfil an extra 20,000 orders per day.
The warehouse’s robots, which support with picking operations, are predicted to have travelled over 37 miles during the Black Friday peak, compared to a usual 28 miles.
Boots’ top-selling items on the day was the Benefit Star gift and its best-performing electrical item was the Philips Lumea hair removal device.
The strong Black Friday performance follows a 5.2% increase in Boots sales during it’s last quarter ending 31 August.
Across the board, Black Friday was “encouraging” for the retail industry as transactions edged up 3.2% against last year, according to Barclaycard payments.
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