John Lewis sales up 7.1% last week
John Lewis sales rose 7.1% year-on-year last week as the retailer benefited from a mixed bag of weather which encouraged its customers to go shopping.
With the strongest day of the week being Saturday, shops in London and the South continued to compete with last year’s Olympics comparatives while the shops in the North delivered a 10.5% increase on the same week last year.
Online sales at johnlewis.com climbed 21.4% with growth driven by a 39.4% rise in sales of electricals.
Within the directorates, Electricals and Home Technology was the best performing category with sales up by 23.2%. Sales of small electrical products soared by 39.6% while vision sales rose 27.4%. Camera sales were also strong as customers prepared to go away on holiday.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Home sales edged up 1.2% on last year with a strong increase coming from textiles and carpets which were 5.2% up. Furniture also put in a good performance with a rise of 5.9%.
In Fashion, sales declined by 0.8% although schoolwear and men’s formalwear achieved increases of 17.2% and 18.2% respectively.
David Barford, director of selling, London and South, said: “The week saw the continued mixed bag of weather that typifies a British summer and with this our customers seized the opportunity to shop with us.
“The Back to School, College and University trade is really picking up across the branches now and as we see this grow in intensity we are well placed in shops and online to maximise the opportunities ahead.
“The flow of new season stock continues in and with the cooler weather, customers will be keen to shop newness.”
