The internet is important to Tesco as one of the few areas of retail enjoying rapid growth. Online grocery sales rose 12.8% to £3.2bn last year and Philip Clarke was keen to stress how important a multi-channel presence is for the business. Tesco now has five "dark stores", where employees assemble customers' online orders, to serve its web business. A sixth opens later this year. However, the non-food website Tesco Direct suffered as sales of electrical products were squeezed by competition from the likes of Amazon, while Clarke admitted that Tesco's in-store displays of electricals were not up to scratch.