Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Despite unseasonably mild weather, John Lewis ended last week (to October 31) with sales up 5.6% on last year.
Swindon and Peterborough were among the department store group’s best performing branches, with sales up 18% and 8.2% respectively, while online contributed with growth at 19.7%.
At the directorate level, fashion sales rose 10.4% year-on-year while home grew 4.6%. Within that, online grew 15.7%. Promotions across living & dining, bedroom and upholstery contributed to furniture growth of 6.1% – a figure which Mark Felix, director of trade for John Lewis, described as “a result that sets us up as our focus shifts into preparing the home for Christmas”.
For EHT (Electricals & Home Technology), sales grew 2.8%. Small electricals had “another strong week” with growth of 9.1%, while food prep benefited from a price match promotion and gifting.
Mark Felix said: “We are now into November and our focus truly turns to Christmas. Our customers are starting to get into the spirit, with online searches for advent calendars last week up 219% against last year.
This is when it gets exciting for both customers and Partners [staff]. We can all play our part by providing our customers with unforgettable shopping experiences at this unique time of year.”
