A week of two halves for John Lewis
John Lewis sales edged up 1.1% year on-year last week despite unsettled weather and the General Election slowing footfall in the second half of the week.
Jon Williams, John Lewis director of merchandising operations, said: “A week of two halves, with a buoyant start to the week supported by in-store bank holiday events pulling customers into branches combined with strong online sales demand. The seasonal weather continued to drive summer product including outdoor living. The second half of the week saw less settled weather and the small matter of an election, both of which slowed footfall and sales leaving us to finish the week a respectable 1.1% up on last year.”
Fashion was 0.4% down on the year with evidence that some sales were pulled forward to the previous week when the retailer price matched heavy competitor activity. Categories achieving some of the best percentage increases included men’s shoes and jewellery. In addition, the babywear and nursery categories achieved respective uplifts of 16% and 18% in a week which followed the birth of the royal baby.
Home sales rose by 0.4% with the biggest increases coming from home accessories and gifts, and textiles and carpets.
Meanwhile, electricals and home technology sales climbed by 3.7% which was a marked improvement on previous weeks as promotional activity for the bank holiday drove sales in both the shops and online.
Online sales were 16.6% up on last year with good increases across all directorates.
Williams added: “With another bank holiday soon we are confident that customers will, once again, be looking to us to inspire them with our fantastic summer product offer and our Partner expertise.”
