Easter timing impacts John Lewis trading

John Lewis sales for the week to April 2 were impacted by the timing of Easter in the calendar, which meant a day’s less trade in the chain’s shops this year.

“As a consequence,” reported John Lewis commercial director Paula Nickolds, “sales finished the week down 2.3%. However, when comparing the two weeks of trade around Easter this year versus last year, sales were up 9.4% and we can be very pleased with the way our Easter activity was received by customers.”

EHT (Electricals & Home Technology) was the star performer, with sales up 8.3% on last year, due to newness in Apple products including the iPad Pro and iPhone.

But the lack of comparable Easter trade had a particular impact on the Home category, which was down 6.6% on last year.

However, big ticket items performed well such as beds (up 26.7%) and dining furniture at (up 3.7%). And over the two week Easter period, Home was “very strong” (up 8.1%), with Furniture and seasonal gifting particular highlights.

Paula Nickolds concluded: “With the arrival of Spring and an additional day in shops from last year’s Easter Sunday, we are well placed for the week ahead.”