Web boosts Tesco's Christmas performance

Retailer reported 20 per cent growth in online sales over six-week period

Tesco delivered over 100 million items to web shoppers during the festive period

A strong e-commerce performance was a key highlight in Tesco’s Christmas and New Year trading statement today.

The retail giant said online sales were "very strong" in both food and non-food, with total growth of around 20 per cent in the six-week period.

According to Tesco, more than 100 million grocery items were delivered to almost 1.5 million web customers during the period, while levels of availability were "very good".

The firm’s home shopping channel Tesco Direct also enjoyed growth of over 50 per cent, with strong sales of toys, TVs, games and entertainment, including digital downloads.

Overall, like-for-like sales at Tesco rose 4.9 per cent during the festive period, the supermarket's strongest Christmas performance in three years.