Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales at John Lewis & Partners were up 0.5% last week (to Saturday September 22) compared with the same week last year, when the department store group was price-matching a competitor’s promotion.
John Lewis & Partners director of digital Sienne Veit said: “Warm weather at the beginning of the week impacted sales in some areas, but launches of new products during the week, including our Christmas Shop, boosted sales.”
Home sales were down 3.4%, but sales of Gift, Cook and Dine products were up 1.6% on last year driven by the launch of the retailer’s Christmas Shop, where sales were up 3% on the previous year. Sienne noted: “We are seeing very strong demand for our exclusive personalised Quality Street tins.”
Electrical and home technology sales were up 10.8%. Communications technology product sales were up 29.8%, driven largely by demand for the new Apple iPhone XS and Apple Watch Series 4, which went on sale last week in the chain’s shops and online.
Overall fashion sales were down 6.8% compared with the same week last year. But sales of own-brand womenswear were up 9.8%.
