Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales for John Lewis last week (to Saturday May 26) were up 3.4% on last year.
The department store group’s director of retail operations development Simon Russell commented: “Sales rose due to customers buying products for the bank holiday weekend, and taking advantage of our promotions and us price matching those of competitors.”
Home sales were up 0.9%. Gifts, cook and dine sales were up 5.5%, with the retailer’s summer Poolside collection proving popular with sales up 40%. Simon noted that customers also continued to buy outdoor furniture, with sales up 14% compared with last year.
Electrical and home technology sales were up 5.6%. Simon said: “Promotions contributed positively to communications technology products, increasing sales by 8.6% compared with the same week last year. Electrical products were also up, due to strong demand for vacuum cleaners and TVs.”
Fashion sales were up 3.4%. Womenswear accessories “had a good week” with sales up 12.2% and own-brand womenswear sales were up 2.2%. Sales of menswear lifted 9.9%, with summer accessories enjoying their strongest week so far this year with sales up 28%. Beauty, wellbeing and leisure sales were up 3.7%.
New for 2018, John Lewis’ Poolside collection aims to create ‘a laid-back aesthetic for indoor and outdoor spaces, with practical and playful pieces across furniture, textiles and tableware’
