John Lewis sales edge up 2% last week
John Lewis sales rose by just 2% year-on-year last week as warm weather across the UK deterred shoppers from buying new autumn clothing.
While fashion sales dropped by 6.9%, home sales fared better with a rise of 6.6% as big ticket items such as beds and upholstery continued to perform well.
Meanwhile, electrical and home technology sales grew by 8.3% as the retailer benefited from the ‘back to university’ trade.
Looking at the branches, the Ipswich, High Wycombe and Newbury stores achieved some of the biggest percentage increases at 25.8%, 20.3% and 19.5% respectively. In addition the Southampton store opened the retailer’s second little Waitrose format in the week.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Online sales increased by 12.7%.
Barry Matheson, John Lewis director of retail services, said: ”With the recent warm weather and temperatures up to 25°C customers were not in the mood just yet for buying cold weather products and this was reflected across all assortments.
“This week’s price matching activity in response to competitors’ promotional events should give our customers even more reason to shop with us in the coming week.”
