Internet results in a happy House of Fraser

The department store chain said sales rose 6.3 per cent in the six weeks to January 5, with online revenues up 48 per cent in the period as increasing numbers of customers used their mobile phones and tablets to shop on the internet.

The group, which has stores in Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Huddersfield, said online sales were bigger than any individual store after the relaunch of its website and opening of ‘click and collect’ stores in Aberdeen and Liver-pool.

Chairman Don McCarthy said: “There is no doubt 2012 was a challenging year in retail and it remains difficult to predict when economic conditions and consumer sentiment will improve.”

The group said menswear performed particularly strongly in the period, up 7.4 per cent overall and 8.6 per cent in its own brand range.

Fashion accessories also fared well, up 17.5 per cent in the period, helping push overall like-for-like sales up 5.2 per cent in the first 10 weeks of its fourth quarter.

The group sold 45,000 pairs of shoes and 40,000 handbags a week in the period, up 19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

The company’s house brands, such as homeware and fashion label Linea and men’s clothes brand Howick, reported a 10 per cent increase in sales.