Online electrical retailer, AO, experienced its strongest ever peak trading period over Black Friday and Christmas.

In it's trading update for the third quarter, the three months ending December 31, the Lostock company announced that the increased demand for its products and services seen since the start of the pandemic continued in this quarter.

The company, a leading European electrical retailer founded in Bolton, said this growth led to their 'strongest ever peak trading period' over Black Friday and in the run up to Christmas, meaning a revenue growth of 67.2 per cent.

They are continuing to invest in their infrastructure to deliver higher levels of revenue meaning more staff in warehouses, vehicles and drivers.

AO Founder and Chief Executive, John Roberts, said: “I believe we’ve seen ten years of change in ten months, and experienced our strongest ever peak trading period.

“We backed ourselves by investing early in warehouses, vehicles, stock and people. This not only set us up to satisfy customer demand for electricals for the current crisis but also for the longer term, as the structural shift to online becomes a permanent feature of the market in the UK and Germany.

“Our confidence in those investments has been rewarded by these exceptional levels of sales.

"We’ve seen how the short-term costs translate into a fantastic opportunity to drive lifetime value for millions more customers. We’re delighted to have earned their trust after their first purchase and their first experience of the AO Way.

“Now that customers have experienced a better, digital-first way to shop for electricals, I believe the majority will never look back. We intend to cement that change by raising the bar on our service and proposition in ways that only AO can deliver.

“We’ll continue to make the right decisions for our customers, partners, people and planet too. I’m hugely proud of how AOers have responded to challenges as well as opportunities, providing amazing service to our customers during a record period.

"I’d like to thank the whole team for making it possible, including the 1,500 new recruits who joined us during 2020."