// John Lewis Partnership’s overall weekly sales dips by 0.1%
// Waitrose weekly sales grows 2.5%
// John Lewis weekly sales drops 3.4%
The release of John Lewis Partnership’s highly-anticipated Excitable Edgar Christmas advert has provided a boost in the company’s overall weekly sales.
For the week ending November 16, overall sales for the parent company of John Lewis and Waitrose declined by just 0.1 per cent year-on-year, from £238.14 million down to £237.8 million.
This is an improvement on last week, when weekly sales dropped 1.3 per cent year-on-year, and the week prior when sales plunged 6.9 per cent.
Meanwhile for the year-to-date, the partnership was steady with a 0.9 per cent year-on-year decline.
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For John Lewis on its own, the launch of Excitable Edgar on Thursday prompted customers to start shopping merchandise related to the advert, alongside positive sales of cold weather product across fashion and home.
Fashion sales were up 0.7 per cent, boosted by a 52 per cent surge in womenswear outerwear, 16 per cent growth in women’s gloves, while cashmere sales were up two per cent year-on-year.
Home sales were up 3.4 per cent, thanks to a 31 per cent uptick in flooring sales and 70 per cent surge in fitted furniture on the back of a promotion.
Christmas product sales were also up 22 per cent and sales of Christmas trees were up 25 per cent as customers prepared for the festive season.
However, sales at the John Lewis’ electrical and dome technology department declined 14.4 per cent as the retailer annualised against new product launches.
At Waitrose, sales excluding fuel grew 2.5 per cent compared to the same week last year.
The grocer recorded a 4.5 per cent uptick in ambient product sales, but chilled and fresh food sales dipped 0.5 per cent and home and general merchandise sales declined 7.9 per cent.
Like its stablemate, the Excitable Edgar advert, which Waitrose did in partnership with John Lewis, prompted strong sales in merchandise, especially with chocolates and cupcakes.
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