John Lewis Partnership has enjoyed a bumper week, as Black Friday promotions helped drive revenue and allowed its eponymous department store to record its biggest-ever weekly sales growth.
For the week ending November 24, the partnership ended two consecutive weeks of sales decline with a weekly increase of 4.2 per cent year-on-year £379.63 million.
This is also a significant improvement on the four per cent sales decline recorded last week.
While the partnership’s sales for the year-to-date slid 0.3 per cent year-on-year, this was an improvement on the 0.7 per cent dip it recorded for last week’s year-to-date figure.
Between the partnership’s Waitrose and John Lewis brands, the latter was the star performer of the group with total sales for the week surging 7.7 per cent year-on-year.
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The department store hailed it as the “biggest sales week in our history”, thanks to high demand for Black Friday offers and competitor offers, which John Lewis price matched.
The retailer added that both its shops and website “traded well” and that a number of shops enjoyed a record week.
John Lewis said its total sales were boosted by a 13.1 per cent surge in fashion sales, which were driven by Black Friday promotions on both branded and own-brand items.
Home sales were up 2.3 per cent, and electrical and home technology sales increased 5.7 per cent.
However, unlike its stablemate, Waitrose recorded a 1.5 per cent year-on-year decline in weekly sales excluding fuel.
The upmarket grocer said shoppers opted for warming winter food as the cold weather continued, with sales of slow cooked meat up by 53 per cent and sales of root vegetables, cabbage and sprouts also increased.
Customers were also beginning to feel festive, with mince pie sales up 43 per cent and mulled wine up by 17 per cent.
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