Predictions of the death of the high street have been “overstated”, according to John Lewis as it revealed that online sales had fallen while store visits were up in a new report.
New figures found that online transactions made up 57% of the department store retailer’s sales over the past year, down from 81% at the height of the pandemic, while store customers were up 8% on last year.
Commercial director Kathleen Mitchell wrote in the firm’s latest ‘How We Shop, Live and Look’ report: “People want to come back to shops, especially on Saturdays. Evening shopping has been replaced by weekend shopping.”
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Mitchell added that in-person visits have been boosted by John Lewis holding events for shoppers, such as singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor hosting a kitchen disco in its Liverpool store to celebrate the city’s hosting of Eurovision.
The high street stalwart also recorded a 70% increase in tailoring sales, which requires customers to visit stores to have clothes fitted.
The figures come as John Lewis continues on its recovery plan as it looks to boost sales.
After posting losses last month, the retail group said that despite the uncertainty in the economic outlook and consumer sentiment, it expects its full-year financial performance to improve versus the £77.6m pre-tax loss achieved last year.
Last week it emerged that the retailer plans to sell a dozen Waitrose stores to raise up to £150m.
The business will begin marketing the stores from this week, which are predominantly located in the south of England with 20-year inflation-linked leases.
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