Play.com buoyed by festive sales surge

Online entertainment retailer Play.com has announced that it is "beating the credit crunch" after reporting a 24% jump in like-for-like sales during the Christmas period compared with last year. The privately owned company said that sales of the film Mamma Mia! on DVD and Take That's latest album The Circus , had driven revenues for the four months until the end of December, showing that the online retail sector is more resilient to the looming recession than many have warned. "I'm very happy with this performance and I think we can continue to grow for the next four or five years," said Stuart Rowe, the company's Chief Operating Officer. The market for video games remains especially strong, said Rowe, as people look to spend less for more hours of entertainment. "Staying in is the new going out, and people are spending a lot more time at home." He also said he remained optimistic about the long-term prospects for online retailers, in spite of fears that the online spending boom might be over. "This year will be tough but in the medium to long term we are positive."

planetretail.net