Electricals specialist Maplin has said that a combination of Black Friday and Christmas boosted like-for-like sales by 2.3%, with CCTV equipment and drones proving popular with consumers.

Over Black Friday, the chain reduced some prices by over 70% and increased stock levels by 200% on its most popular ranges. Although this wasn’t enough to boost sales to last year’s figure, the exact final total has not been revealed.
Oliver Meakin, Maplin’s recently-appointed CEO, said: “I genuinely don’t believe pure play retailers, either online or bricks-and-mortar, will be the winners in the long run.

“I believe that in the market we operate in consumers want advice and they want the ability to choose how they shop with the brands. It’s not necessarily convenient to have to wait at home between 12 o’clock and 1 o’clock for a delivery, instead of going to a shop to speak to someone who knows what they’re talking about for advice.”