Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales for John Lewis & Partners were down 6.8% last week (to Saturday November 17) on the same week last year.
The department store group’s digital director Sienne Veit said: “It was a week of two halves. Early in the week sales continued to be impacted by the mild weather, but they increased significantly at the end of the week as a result of us launching our Christmas advert on Thursday, and a big increase in Black Friday deals on Friday and Saturday, which we price-matched.”
“Home sales were down 14.7%. Sales were impacted by a reduction in competitor offers which meant we did less price-matching. The enduring mild weather also impacted sales of warm bedding products such as high tog duvets. However, future orders for curtains and blinds, and furniture and flooring grew by 11% and 4.1% respectively.
“Electrical and Home Technology sales were down 6.3% on the same week last year when we had a phone launch and strong promotions. Sales grew when competitor Black Friday deals launched – and we launched our own Black Friday deals today (Tuesday November 20). Following the launch of our Christmas advert, pianos were the most searched for item on our website, and we sold 100 pianos and keyboards in three days.
“Fashion sales were down 0.9%. Sales were impacted by the weather but were significantly boosted on the last two days of the week by a combination of price-matching and our own beauty offers.”
