Department store chain John Lewis reported an 11.4 per cent sales rise to £85 million last week compared with the same week last year as shoppers prepare for Christmas.
Homewares have driven sales as shoppers get ready to open their homes to family and friends with beds, fitted carpets and curtains, as well as table linen and china, all experiencing strong sales growth in the week to Saturday November 10th 2012.
Sales of electronics also soared, up 29 per cent on last year as tech-hungry consumers made purchases of the iPad4, mini iPads and the latest ‘app toys‘.
“An 11.4 per cent increase on sales last year is a pleasing and very creditable result,” Nat Wakely, Director of Selling Operations, said.
“It shows that our customers are thinking seriously about Christmas and coming into our shops to find all they need for entertaining family and friends and for finding the perfect gift.
“Clearly the attraction of John Lewis‘ market leading proposition of exciting and innovative products, renowned customer service and our Never Knowingly Undersold promise continues to drive our sales particularly at this time of year.”
Over the weekend, the retailer debuted its Christmas TV advert, which was watched by some eight million viewers during the X Factor break.
Available on YouTube, the ad has since been viewed nearly half a million times and received over 33,000 mentions on Twitter.
Gabrielle Aplin‘s cover of ‘The Power of Love‘ accompanied the ad and soared to number eight in the iTunes chart within 24 hours of being aired.
Craig Inglis, Marketing Director at John Lewis, commented: “It is clear from the incredible reaction in the social media that our Christmas advert has once again struck a chord with the nation.
“We didn‘t think it was possible for the response to be bigger than last year‘s success but the volume of comments suggests that is exactly what has happened.”
