Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total weekly sales at John Lewis for last week (to Saturday May 20) were £76.3m, up 1.1% on last year.
The department store group’s head of shop trade, Central and Midlands, Amanda Dammers commented that Home sales were down 2.2% year-on-year, but there was an increase in customers placing deposits for future orders.
Electrical and Home Technology sales were up 0.8% year-on-year. Communications Technology products were up 5.8% fuelled by demand for the new Samsung S8, Apple Watches and the FitBit Alta.
The best-performing category was fashion, with sales up 4.9%, driven by customers buying casual clothing ahead of the anticipated warmer weather and summer holidays.
Sales of womenswear were up 7%, and menswear grew by 6.3%. Beauty, wellbeing and leisure also performed well, with sales up 14.2% year-on-year due to the retailer price-matching a competitor’s promotional event.
