Oxfam rings up bumper Christmas with rocketing online sales and best trading week in high street shops for seven years

In a challenging year for high street retailers, Oxfam bucked the trend with growing sales. Like-for-like sales in Oxfam’s high street shops rose by 1.3 per cent, with trading in the week before Christmas (16-22 December) reaching a seven- year high.

Oxfam’s total sales over the eight week Christmas period exceeded £18 million. That represents an increase of one per cent on the same period in 2017 and an extra £167,485 raised. That’s enough to provide safe, clean water for 170,000 people in an emergency.

Sourced by Oxfam, the charity’s range of brand new ethically sourced gifts and products helped drive the growth. Sales of Sourced by Oxfam rose by 48 per cent online, and 11 per cent in bricks and mortar stores. Eco-friendly products such as beeswax food wrap and e-coffee cups were particularly sought after.

Vintage clothing, designer brands Burberry, Gucci, Chanel and high street names Whistles and Boden were top search terms online as shoppers looked for party outfits. Cashmere, handbags, silver and first editions were also especially popular. Oxfam has over 185,000 unique items listed on its website at any one time (www.oxfam.org.uk/shop).

Andrew Horton, Oxfam Trading Director said: “Strong Christmas sales demonstrate the public’s continued support for Oxfam’s work helping the world’s poorest people, and the appeal of the items we sell. Our shops are stocked with sustainable fashion and new products with sound ethical credentials. Our customers are increasingly thoughtful about how they spend their money seeking, out items that save the planet and make the world a kinder, fairer place for us all to live in.”

“Over Christmas we’ve been providing life-saving aid for millions of people in war-torn Yemen, and clean water and sanitation for victims of the tsunami in Indonesia. This work continues and would be impossible without the backing of the British public. I am so grateful for this support and to our dedicated shop managers and generous volunteers who worked so hard over the festive period.”

The impressive growth in Oxfam’s online sales included an extremely strong Black Friday promotion, although sales were buoyant throughout the period. On Cyber Monday, a first edition of The Silver Chair by CS Lewis was sold just hours after it was listed online for £2,000.

Twenty-three thousand people show their commitment to Oxfam by volunteering in its high-street shops, which are not only stocked with affordable products but are vibrant community hubs which bring people together regardless of background or generation.

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Notes to Editors:

All sales figures are for the nine-week Christmas trading period from 28 October to 29 December 2018, compared to the same weeks in 2017.
The proceeds of sales from Oxfam’s Online Shop and high street shops support the charity’s work to end the injustice of extreme poverty around the world.

Oxfam has 604 high street shops across the UK, supported by a workforce of more than 23,000 volunteers, selling donated fashion, books, music, homewares and the Sourced by Oxfam range of ethically sourced new products.

About Sourced by Oxfam
Our ‘Sourced by Oxfam’ range of ethically sourced brand new products is carefully selected by our team of buyers who search for pioneering suppliers who put people before profit, and produce quality products with the emphasis on small-scale production and sustainable materials. The range is available on Oxfam Online Shop and in selected high street shops.

About Oxfam Online Shop
Oxfam launched the UK’s first online charity shop in 2007. This was the eleventh Christmas since the launch of Oxfam Online Shop, the UK’s biggest charity shop with thousands of unique treasures all in one place, from the Oxfam Unwrapped range of charity gifts to the Sourced by Oxfam range of ethically sourced new products and more than 185,000 unique second-hand items. There are over 85,000 books, more than 43,000 women’s clothing and accessories items, 25,000 music products, films and video games and 6,000 items of homewares and collectables. Over 400 Oxfam shops across the country upload new items to the site every day, and volunteers at two central hubs, based in Milton Keynes and Batley, Yorkshire, upload thousands of new items a week. www.oxfam.org.uk/shop