Following what it described as an “exceptional” Black Friday period, Boots has recorded a retail sales boost of eight per cent for the first quarter of the financial year.

During the three months ended 30 November 2024, the health and beauty retailer saw growth across all categories and channels.

The company had a record-breaking Black Friday, with the biggest ever day of digital sales. During its busiest hour, it recorded five online orders per second.

The health and beauty retailer's Black Friday sale was so popular in fact that its website crashed a few weeks before the official day as the company promoted more than 22,000 deals leading up to the shopping event throughout the month of November.

The first quarter results also demonstrated strong performance in store, with combined physical and digital sales increasing by 20 per cent across the Black Friday week.

Overall digital sales were up by 23 per cent as the number of people using its app grew to 8.1 million active users.

Across store sales, the retailer's destination health and beauty stores; flagships; and travel stores performed particularly well in the quarter.

Anthony Hemmerdinger, who was recently appointed managing director at Boots UK and Ireland, said that the figures show that its ongoing transformation, including improvements to the in-store and digital customer experience, is working.

“We are relentlessly focused on our transformation journey and have more exciting plans ahead to further enhance the experience for our customers," continued Hemmerdinger. "Looking forward, we face heightened cost pressures in 2025 following the Autumn Budget, however with positive momentum behind us and a clear plan in place, the business is focused on navigating these and continuing to deliver long-term, sustainable growth.”

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