ONE of the country's best known online retailers Play.com has announced that its Christmas sales were up by nearly a quarter, thanks in part to an IT firm in Hyde.

The virtual store achieved 24 per cent year-on-year growth in sales over the Christmas holiday. And Play.com, which has a £400m turnover and sells seven million different products from phones to clothes, puts some of that success down to its new eProcurement system from Wax Digital.

Stuart Rowe, managing director of Play.com, said: "With an increasing product portfolio each buyer needs greater visibility of stock control and management. Staying lean and fulfilling customer demand during peak times is key to our online trading."

The system generates a daily `buy sheet' for each product category, presenting a list of stock to purchase and in what volumes, by analysing historical sales data to forecast future demand.

Wax Digital director Daniel Ball said: "Play.com has to be able to rely on our systems to balance demand against adequate levels of stock, and not be left with costly shortfalls or excesses.

"Online consumers look at price vs availability and are able to shop around quickly and easily. People simply don't wait for items to return to stock."

Wax digital was established in 2001 and now has over 50 employees and a turnover of more than £3.5m.