John Lewis weekly sales up 6.9%
John Lewis saw its sales return to growth last week as the spring sunshine boosted sales of fashion and beauty products.
In the week ending 16 April, sales rose 6.9% on the same week last year. This follows a fall in sales in the previous week which the retailer blamed on the earlier Easter this year.
Andy Street, John Lewis managing director said: “Week 11 proved a solid one to conclude a strong set of Easter comparisons. This was especially so when we consider the strength of April trade last year which included the beginning of the technology surge. Inevitably therefore, the headline sales growth has slowed just a little from the cracking pace we set at the beginning of the year.”
The advent of the first spring-like sunshine helped lift fashion sales by 7.6% with beauty products and fashion accessories both selling well. Childrenswear also prospered in the final week of the Easter school holidays while haberdashery enjoyed it best ever summer week outside of the clearance sales.
Never Miss a Retail Update!In the Home directorate sales were up 5.3% lifted by the popularity of big ticket items. Furniture sales were strong while textiles, fabrics and floor coverings all traded well.
Electricals and home technology sales were more subdued than in recent weeks with a 7.2% uplift as IT and electricals were held back by the comparisons with the peak of ‘Digital Switchover’ from last year.
The best performing branches were the Oxford Street flagship and the At Home store in Poole. Both shops recorded a sales increase of 18.5%.
Online sales at johnlewis.com rose by a modest 5.2% as the retailer’s April 2012 surge proved hard to beat. Street added: “Encouragingly the new website continues to bed down, and outstanding mobile trade helped the channel to 5.2% overall. Within that Click & collect continues to thrive, and it was good to see our new facility with ‘Collect Plus’ step up another gear.”
