Digital sales at supermarket giant Asda broke through the £5 million a day barrier for the first time in the run up to Christmas.
The retailer – owned by American corporate giant WalMart – said it had enjoyed a good performance both in store and online during what they described as a “gimmick free” festive period.
The firm, currently the UK’s second largest supermarket chain, said it had resisted the heavy discounting model adopted by competitors and instead kept faith that its everyday pricing model would drive custom.
The company – which is due to provide a full market update on trading patterns in February – said December 23 had been its busiest day of the season with more than 4.8 million customers through the doors of its 573 UK stores.
The previous two days had seen online sales driven to new record highs of more than £5m for each 24-hour period.
The firm said it had been a record Christmas for its digital arm, with mobile phone and tablet computer based shopping apps becoming increasingly important to the overall sales mix.
Asda said it had also particular success from its George clothing range over the period with strong demand for Christmas jumpers and onesies while its core food offering also saw significant uplifts for products such as salmon and beef.
President and CEO Andy Clarke said Asda’s investment in a range of sales platforms had paid dividends over the Christmas period.
“This was a very tough December for retailers with price conscious customers leaving it later than ever before to buy presents and do their big Christmas food shop.
“While some retailers hit the panic button early, at Asda we held our nerve and stuck with our simple strategy of no gimmicks,” Mr Clarke said.
“We planned for 2013 to be an omni-channel Christmas for food and it was.
“For the first time ever our grocery home shopping site exceeding £5m of sales in one day on both the 21st and 22nd December; and sales through our mobile apps were up over 200% on last year.
“In fact, apps played a huge part in our online success with 28% of Grocery Home Shopping sales being ordered through the Smartphone app in December.
“As we enter 2014 our strategy to redefine value retailing in the UK is underlined by the launch of our biggest ever January value campaign.”
The update from Asda comes ahead of statutory trading statements later this week from rivals Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Marks & Spencer.