John Lewis clearance sale proves mobile Christmas prediction
John Lewis says it has been proved right in its prediction that this year would be the UK’s first ‘mobile Christmas’.
The retailer has reported that on Christmas Day traffic to johnlewis.com from mobile phones and tablets made up three quarters of total traffic to overtake desktops by a considerable margin.
Having started its clearance sale at 5pm on Christmas Eve, during the first hour John Lewis saw orders increase by 13% on last year while on Christmas Day orders rose by 19%. More customers than ever before chose to browse the retailer’s website on mobile devices with Christmas Eve seeing mobile take 56% of the traffic. On Christmas Day this rose to a record-breaking 76%.
Mark Lewis, online director at John Lewis, said: “We predicted in October that mobile would be the shining star of Christmas 2013. With tablets being the must-have product throughout the year it was clear that mobile would step up, but yesterday surpassed even our expectations.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“The tipping point has now passed and we expect mobile to be the way the majority of people shop online from now on. It will only grow from here and we will be working hard to ensure we meet our customers’ expectations, be that new technology or the seamless experience across multiple channels. Shopping is becoming much more of a social experience with people browsing, purchasing and sharing ideas with others using their mobile phones and tablets.”
John Lewis saw shoppers snapping up bargains across its home, fashion and technology departments. The most popular items were laptops, Egyptian cotton bedding and towels, TVs, tablets, washing machines, handbags, suits and beauty products. One of the best selling items online was a treadmill as many customers responded to the annual Christmas Day overindulgence.
The success of the clearance sale online follows a record final pre-Christmas week for John Lewis. The week ending Saturday 21 December saw sales reach £164.4 million, up 4.2% on the same week last year, to break the £160 million barrier for the first time.
Lewis added: “Many of our customers clearly chose to shop right up until the last minute this year and I’m thrilled that we were able to provide them with the gifts they were looking for. The successful start to Clearance on johnlewis.com shows that we are also meeting the needs of bargain hunters online. Our focus now shifts to our shops opening their doors tomorrow for the start of Clearance in our branches.”
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