John Lewis sales up 6.4% last week
John Lewis said good online sales last week helped to compensate for a varied performance in its shops to give the retailer a year-on-year sales increase of 6.4% for the week.
While some shops saw a drop in sales due to wet weather in some parts of the country, others performed strongly with the Tamworth and High Wycombe stores leading the way with increases of 30.4% and 18.1% respectively.
Online sales were buoyant, rising 26.4% on the same period last year.
Looking across the retailer’s buying directorates, electricals and home technology was the best performer with a year-on-year sales increase of 9.7% in the week. Sales were boosted by good trade in vision, audio and white goods which compensated for slightly softer sales in tablet computers.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Within the home directorate, sales rose by 2.9% as it benefited from buoyant trade in Valentine’s Day merchandise and cards.
Fashion sales climbed by 7.3% with fragrances, watches and men’s cufflinks among the best performing products. In addition, the wet weather drove strong sales of umbrellas, Wellington boots, macs and even waterproof mascara.
Ed Connolly, John Lewis buying director for EHT, said: “All three of the buying directorates were in positive territory in week three, combining to produce a good week’s trading result of 6.4%, moving up on the first two weeks of the year. A very pleasing online gain of 26.4% offset any impact to the business from the adverse weather conditions seen across much of the UK.”
Looking ahead to this week, he added: “Half term opportunity lies ahead in week four as we look to continue our sales momentum.”
