John Lewis‘ latest weekly results show total sales are up 7.6 per cent on last year as the company continued to overcome tough Olympic comparisons.
Electrical sales rose by 35 per cent as customers flocked to buy iPad‘s and laptops from stores. John Lewis is the only retailer in Britain to have a completely bespoke Apple outlet. There was also a 35 per cent uplift in online sales on johnlewis.com.
Barry Matheson, Director Retail Services, John Lewis said: “We enter the final week of August in good form and the bank holiday weekend gives us numerous opportunities to capture trade from the additional footfall that will be in our shops.”
John Lewis‘s Edinburgh store led the way in the North with extended trading hours benefiting it through the festival period and was closely followed by another strong score from Trafford, Manchester.
Meanwhile, grocer Waitrose, which opened a new shop in Aylesbury last Friday saw sales increase by seven per cent on last year. The fact that the same week last year featured the hottest day of 2012 and the Olympics‘ Closing Ceremony made this week a particularly strong performance.
Following last week‘s Great British Beer Festival, sales of British ale were boosted significantly as St Peter‘s Golden Ale saw ales surge by 396 per cent.
Malt Whiskey sales shot up by 50 per cent and demand for brandy rose by 36 per cent as customers settled in for the cooler months ahead.
Waitrose.com overall e-commerce orders shot up 37.9 per cent compared to this time last year.
