Department store John Lewis reported strong sales last week, completing “an impressive year” as the retailer‘s omnichannel strategy saw online sales surge 44 per cent, results released today reveal.
Snow impacted footfall across stores in the week ended January 26th 2013 though certain regions defied the snow, with Poole, Edinburgh and Swindon seeing sales rise 20.9 per cent, 11.3 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively.
In terms of products, electricals sales grew 29.1 per cent on the same period last year though sales of homewares declined one per cent.
Such results top off a strong year for the retailer and John Lewis‘ Managing Director Andy Street said that it had been an impressive performance.
“The week completed an impressive year,” he commented.
“The encouraging feature for our omnichannel strategy is that both bricks and clicks saw strong growth.
“For johnlewis.com it‘s been a simply sparkling year of growth, helped by a superb performance from Distribution colleagues, and many Partners across John Lewis and Waitrose who have supported Click & collect.
“Overall, 2012–13 must be seen as a team success, as every area of John Lewis has combined to deliver these sales. Thank you for a job well done.”
Meanwhile, supermarket chain Waitrose saw sales increase 11.3 per cent for the week in what the grocer described as “a fitting end to a fantastic half year”.
Shoppers sought comfort food on ‘Blue Monday‘ as sales of hot pies and frozen pizzas rose 59 per cent and 31 per cent respectively while New Year‘s resolutions stuttered as sales of confectionery and biscuits climbed 13 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.
In the 26 weeks to January 26th, total sales jumped 8.2 per cent, again driven by the popularity of its online proposition, which saw sales soar 47.4 per cent.
Mark Price, Waitrose‘s Managing Director hailed the figures, commenting: “We ended the financial year on a high and this accelerating growth has been driven by attracting new customers to our shops, as well as through existing shoppers buying more items.
“As we move into a new financial year, I‘d like to thank each and every one of you across the business for helping us achieve such impressive growth.”
