John Lewis weekly sales rise 17.2%
John Lewis saw its sales rise by 17.2% last week as trade was boosted by half term and strong electrical sales.
In the first four weeks of the retailer’s new financial year, sales grew by “an impressive” 16.8% with growth coming from both the shops and online.
All of the retailer’s stores reported increases on the same week last year. Tamworth and Swindon were the best performing ‘at home’ shops with sales uplifts of 42.9% and 28.3% respectively. Of the full line department stores, Nottingham led the way with an increase of 26.7% followed by Trafford at 26.3%.
Online sales rose by 20.1% despite the retailer making the transition to a relaunched website. Speaking of the transition, Simon Russell, director of retail operations development, said: “This is a significant milestone and a result of many months of planning and hard work by the IT and online selling teams. This week will see the final part of the transition with the business tools switched back on for the buying and online selling teams as we settle back down to business as usual.”
Never Miss a Retail Update!Electrical and home technology sales soared 33.3% in the week driven by strong trade in vacuum cleaners, heating products and tablet computers.
Home sales were 10.1% up on the same week last year with furniture, accessories and textiles all seeing double-digit increases. Seasonal lines were also strong with Mother’s Day gifts up 87% and Easter ranges up 20%.
Fashion sales saw a 10.1% uplift as the cold weather drove a late seasonal surge in sales of knitwear.
Russell added: “Mother’s Day and Easter are the key season’s focus for the next few weeks. We have some great products and are well set to continue our good start to 2013.”
