Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales for John Lewis & Partners were up 0.1% last week (to Saturday October 6) compared with the same week last year.
The department store group’s customer director Craig Inglis said: “Home sales were down 6.5%. However, we saw an increase in customers committing to future purchases of sofas and beds. Our contemporary own-brand House had another strong week with sales up 13.5%. We also had strong sales of our new own-brand gifting collection ‘Find Keep Give’, and our Christmas hampers and trees.
For electrical and home technology, sales were up 1.3%. Craig noted that communications technology product sales were up 8.5% due to new product launches, adding, “we saw particularly strong sales of gaming products which were up 200% year-on-year due to the launch of Forza on Xbox and FIFA on Playstation”.
Fashion sales were up 4.4%, with womenswear and menswear up 8.9% and 3% respectively. Craig pointed out that the increase was due to the cooler and wetter weather driving demand for warmer clothing and accessories, and the retailer matching a competitor’s promotion through its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price promise.
Launched earlier this month, John Lewis & Partners’ exclusive ‘Find Keep Give’ gifting collection comprises 200 pieces including tableware, glassware, ceramics and decorative accessories – 80% of which is designed in-house
