Winter weather boosts fashion sales at John Lewis
By Ben Sillitoe - 10:09AM - Fri 29th October 2010
A return to weather requiring more than two layers of clothes helped sales at John Lewis department stores soar last week.
Fashion was the biggest success in the week ending October 23rd, which saw John Lewis Partnership sales rise 10.2 per cent year-on-year to £155.84 million.
Department stores saw a rise in trade of 9.7 per cent compared to 2009, with fashion up 13.8 per cent, home section sales increasing 7.7 per cent and Electricals & Home Technology rising eight per cent.
Dino Rocos, Director of Distribution at John Lewis, said: “Customers were kitting out their families for the cold with sales of outerwear, hats, scarves and gloves for men, women and children all strong. We saw a return to tradition, with sales of Barbour more than doubling last year’s.”
Seasonal promotions are beginning to get shoppers thinking about Christmas, with sales of electronic tablets and computer assortments particularly strong and IT product sales rising 43 per cent.
Rocos added: “The festive environment created by our partners inspired customers to start their Christmas shopping; sales of seasonal merchandise were strong, with Christmas trees closing the week at +80 per cent.”
Online sales grew 45 per cent as Johnlewis.com reached a milestone of 150,000 SKU’s, whilst in brick and mortar five stores; Knight & Lee, Cambridge, Oxford Street, Norwich and Edinburgh, all reached double digit sales growth.
At Waitrose sales increased 10.6 per cent as the Brand Match pricing scheme continued to prove popular.
Rupert Thomas, Marketing Director at Waitrose, said: “Those needing comfort foods made the most of the meat counters’ cut of the day, diced stewing beef, which saw sales soar by an incredible 500 per cent.
“Prepared vegetables were also popular: up 29 per cent, with baby vegetables up a third. Sales of chillies, herbs and spices were up by 30 per cent.”