// John Lewis Partnership sales drop 8.7%
// John Lewis posts 5.1% drop in revenues compared to a year ago
// Waitrose sales drop by 11.9% during the week
John Lewis Partnership has recorded a decline in sales during the last week before Christmas.
In the week to December 21, the department store chain posted a 5.1 per cent drop in revenues compared to a year ago.
Waitrose’s sales also dropped by 11.9 per cent during the week.
READ MORE: John Lewis Partnership weekly sales drop 7.8%
As a group, John Lewis Partnership’s sales fell 8.7 per cent to £381.6 million.
John Lewis saw declining sales in fashion and electricals and home technology, which fell 5.1 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively.
Sales of homewares fell by a mere 0.3 per cent, but John Lewis’ furniture and flooring category grew 4.1 per cent thanks to its Clearance Sale.
John Lewis blamed the decline on “a strong Black Friday”, which coincided the November pay day this year.
Meanwhile, online orders increased towards the end of the week after it extended its deadline on click and collect orders to Christmas Eve.
Waitrose said its figures were “heavily skewed by the fall of Christmas” this year.
Home and general merchandise revenues fell 13.4 per cent, while sales from its core chilled, fruit, veg, meat, fish, frozen, dairy and bakery categories tumbled at a similar rate of 13.3 per cent.
Ambient sales dropped 9.8 per cent year-on-year during the same seven-day period.
Despite the sales declines, Waitrose insisted that its online business was “performing strongly”.
The number of orders placed to arrive in the week leading up to Christmas grew 22 per cent.
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