Cold weather drives record breaking week online at John Lewis
John Lewis enjoyed its third best ever week of sales last week as the cold snap boosted sales of winter clothing and drove a record beaking week online.
In the week ending 1 December, sales rose 9.3% on the same week last year to a total of £124.2 million. Online sales were also strong reaching a record breaking £37.9 million.
The retailer said that the colder weather in the week led to increased sales of outerwear, knitwear and UGG boots. Items designed to keep people warm while using their tech products also sold well as Hearmuffs, which protect ears from the cold whilst listening to music, and touch gloves, which enable people to use a touch screen without exposing their hands to the elements, flew off the shelves.
As customers prepared for the party season, high heels, beauty products and jewellery all sold well driving an 8.2% increase across women’s accessories. Demand for mini sewing machines was also strong due to the continuing popularity of crafting with customers planning to use them to make their own Christmas presents or to give them as gifts.
Maggie Porteous, John Lewis head of selling operations, said yesterday: “This week has seen another strong performance and momentum is building as we enter December. All areas from toys, to bedding and ready-made curtains, to tablets are performing very well. As well as buying gifts and getting their homes ready for the festive period, customers are also ensuring they keep warm with cold-weather clothing and heaters selling fast.
“Online sales soared to £37.9 million last week, a record week for johnlewis.com and a great result ahead of mega Monday tomorrow when we expect to see another surge in trade.”
John Lewis is predicting that the top selling products on the busiest online day are likely to include the iPad mini, Kurio tablets, Sonos wireless music systems and Beats headphones. It also expecting an “unprecedented” volume of customers to take advantage of its Click & Collect service which enables them to collect their purchases from John Lewis and Waitrose stores.
