Following today’s release of The Very Group’s figures for the 39 weeks ending 28 March 2026; Ashley Adeyemi, retail analyst at GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform, offers her view: “The Very Group’s Q3 YTD results mark a return to topline growth, with group revenue up 0.3% to £1,608.1m and Very UK rising 1.9% to £1,431.0m, but with Home being one of the few retail categories seeing consistent momentum, the recovery remains too dependent on smaller, better performing areas. A key strength for the retailer is its multi-category model which has historically allowed it to lean on whichever division is performing well at a given time, however with fashion in its fourth consecutive year of decline and electricals growing marginally, the group must not forget about other areas of the business. Home grew 6.3% year on year, reflecting sustained category investment over the last 18 months including the addition of DUSK.com and over 450 brands now listed across the division. The appeal of Very Pay in financing higher-ticket home purchases has visibly supported basket sizes here, and the category’s higher margin contribution is a meaningful tailwind to the gross margin improvement of 0.6ppts to 35.7%.
“Fashion and Sports declined 4.5% as the fashion component continues to drag the category into negative territory. The distortion created by Nike’s departure to direct-to-consumer, while significant, no longer explains the full magnitude of underperformance. Nike’s return to the platform this year is an opportunity, particularly given the momentum building around the 2026 World Cup, but Very will need to demonstrate it can build a fashion proposition capable of competing with the pace, cultural relevance and price point of ultra-fast-fashion pureplays.
“Electricals managed marginal growth of 0.3%, driven by computing and gaming hardware. With no transformative hardware launch in the period, it has been very difficult for Very to drive meaningful growth in the category and this pattern is set to persist unless Very takes a more proactive approach to generating demand between launches, for example by stepping up range, marketing and promotions in small appliances, audio and connected home products. Toys and Beauty grew 3.0%, with boy’s toys and fragrance the biggest drivers of growth. Beauty’s resilience reflects a broader trend of the category outperforming across non-food retail, and fragrance in particular benefits from Very Pay, which allows customers to spread the cost of what is often a considered, higher-ticket purchase.
“The results capture only the earliest weeks of disruption from the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, with UK consumer confidence recording its sharpest month-on-month decline in March since the first covid lockdown. Very’s core customer base will be the most vulnerable to that deterioration, and demand for value-oriented retailers with flexible payment options remains structurally supportive. The Very Group’s finance arm continues to provide a meaningful cushion to the retail operation, growing 8.0% to £348.9m, and without it, Very UK retail revenue grew just 0.1%, underlining how dependent the group remains on its financial services division to deliver headline progress. Very’s expanding suite of bespoke flexible payment products, including longer instalment options that are seeing more customers choose to spread purchases over twelve months rather than six, reinforces that reliance further. However, flexible credit can only go so far if consumer intent to spend weakens at the source. With Carlyle’s £2bn sale process ongoing, demonstrating that growth extends beyond Home and the finance arm will be an important part of the story Very needs to tell”
