John Lewis sees Christmas on track with home products and decorations boosting sales surge
John Lewis has announced that last week (to Sat Nov 13th) saw sales surge 11.5% week on week
There were strong performances in products related to home entertaining and decorating for the Christmas season. Throughout the country John Lewis branches have reported substantially increased sales in beds (+12.5%), bedding (+8%), towels and home-related products in general, with sales of Christmas trees and decorations from their Christmas Shop reaching unprecedented levels for this time of year. Fashion also had a strong week, particularly on cold weather items, with childrenswear up 20%.
The store group achieved a sterling total of 76.93 million last week which is not only 11.5% up on the previous week, but also 6.8% up on the same week last year.
John Lewis.com had another very strong week, with a 30% increase on last year and a substantial sterling increase on last week. An outstanding result in Electronics and Home Technology shows the effect of the ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ promise now online, with particularly strong sales in radios, games and SLR cameras.
Andy Street, Managing Director, John Lewis says, “With very strong figures from last year against us, our results last week are a clear sign that the steep sales climb towards Christmas has begun in earnest and that customers are making John Lewis their destination for Christmas purchases. These figures demonstrate that we are outperforming our competitors. They give continued confidence that John Lewis’ strong and innovative products, customer service and price matching will ensure our position as market leader on the high street over the festive season.”
This good news for the retailer comes the day after its Christmas television advertising began in a prime ‘X Factor’ slot last night. The soundtrack, Ellie Goulding’s personal rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song”, has already reached no 8 in the iTunes chart and has been given odds of 10 to 1 by William Hill to achieve the Christmas No 1 slot this year.
Elsewhere in the John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose sales saw a year on year uplift of 10% last week, largely driven by the Delia and Heston advertising coupled with a recent 25% off wine and champagne promotion.
