John Lewis sales up 8.4% last week
John Lewis said its sales increased by 8.4% year-on- year last week as the cool damp weather during the half-term week provided what the retailer described as ideal shopping conditions.
Sales of electrical and technology items soared by 26.2% boosted by new product launches and continuing strong demand for tablet computers. Sales also benefited from a range of promotions with customers responding well to offers.
Within the fashion directorate, promotional activity and price matching exercises helped drive a 3.8% increase with nursery, menswear and women’s accessories performing particularly well.
Home sales fell by 2.7% as the directorate faced tough comparatives from the same week last year when it benefited from strong sales of Jubilee and Olympics merchandise. A shift in demand for outdoor living items was partly offset by strong trade in the retailer’s core furnishings offer as a result of promotional activity over the bank holiday weekend.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Sales figures in the retailer’s shops were influenced by the bank holiday being a week earlier than last year. The ‘at home’ shops benefited most from the shift with trade “significantly up” on a like-for-like basis. In the full-line department stores, the strongest trade was seen across the Midlands and North with Milton Keynes leading the way with a 16.7% rise. Leicester followed with a 16.5% increase while the Glasgow store delivered a rise of 13.2%.
Online sales at johnlewis.com rose 17.2% as work continued to optimise the website’s performance.
Barry Matheson, director of retail services at John Lewis, said: “We will need to get to the end of this week to see how we have compared over the full Jubilee period. Then Clearance will, as always, provide a great opportunity to cement our reputation for outstanding value and great service. Extracting maximum value from that is where attention now shifts.”
