LloydsPharmacy saw a 195 per cent rise in ‘Click & Collect’ sales year on year in December, the company has announced.

Both retail and online sales were also up with in store sales up 4.4 per cent and web sales up 26 per cent.

The Celesio owned chain also saw growth in its core health offering with the pain category up 5 per cent year-on-year, said a statement.

Commenting on the company’s strong retail sales, Cormac Tobin, managing director for Celesio UK, said: "The figures demonstrate how well our omnichannel approach is resonating with customers. We’ve been developing our offer over the past couple of years and taking the time to intimately understand our customers’ needs and desires. Going forward we’ll continue to innovate and evolve to make it even easier for people to manage their health and wellbeing."

"What this Christmas has shown the retail sector is that consumer behaviour has fundamentally changed. Two key forces are driving that change; omnichannel is empowering customers to shop on their terms and addictive promotional activity has created a series of calendar events where sales spike, rather than the traditional, steady increase in pre-Christmas revenue."