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Frank Lampard's wrongly disallowed goal against Germany may have killed off England's World Cup hopes but it helped Currys and PC World owner DSG International win over customers.
DSG, which offered £10 off the price of premium TV sets for every goal England scored, treated Lampard's strike as the goal it should have been.
That meant any customer who bought a TV worth more than £699 got back £40, despite England only scoring three goals during the tournament.
Chief executive John Browett today credited the “cash for goals” promotion for helping to drive UK sales up 6% in the three months to July.
Browett said: “It really captured the imagination of our customers. We were up 40% on large-screen TVs compared to the last World Cup four years ago, which was remarkable in a recession.”
The DSG boss claimed rivals did not see such an uplift. “It turned out to be very specific to us.”
Browett added his UK stores sold “thousands” of iPads a week since June during a two-month exclusive deal with manufacturer Apple.
He expects to sell “hundreds of thousands” of iPads by the end of the year, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, although he would not give precise figures.
Browett's other hot tips for Christmas are 3D TVs and the new Connect sensory device for Microsoft Xbox, which allows players to control the device just by moving their hands in the air.
Total sales at DSG rose 3% in the quarter because of flat growth in the Nordic region and a 1% fall in other international markets.
Browett, a former Tesco executive who joined DSG in 2007 to turn it around, continues to refurbish stores and launched eight mega-stores in the quarter. Around 16 more mega-stores are due to open by Christmas including flagship sites at Tottenham Court Road and Staples Corner, near Brent Cross.
Browett says it is part of a strategy of aiming for mass appeal with “better-quality products” and high customer service.
The DSG boss, who also operates the Dixons website and is rebranding the parent company as Dixons Retail, added: “We're not in the double-dip school. It turned out to be a normal recession, not the end of the world. Those customers with jobs are confident and spending again.”
DSG shares rose 0.6p to 25.9p.
