Sales at John Lewis & Partners down 43.3% last week
Sales at the John Lewis department store chain dropped by 43.3% year-on-year last week but the retailer said its performance exceeded expectations.
Due to the launch of Black Friday deals towards the end of the seven day period, sales were up 30% compared to the week before Black Friday last year when the day fell earlier in the month of November.
Fashion sales were down 42.4% in the week despite there being strong demand for products in the beauty, wellbeing and leisure category due to a price-matching exercise against competitor promotions.
Electrical and home technology sales were also down, falling by 55.9% against the corresponding week last year. However, demand for large electrical and vision products increased towards the end of the week after a range of Black Friday promotions went live.
Meanwhile, home sales dropped by 14.7% although sales in the Christmas category rose by 5.7%.
